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The Influence of Noise Perception and Parent-Rated Developmental Characteristics on White Noise Benefits in Children

Jostrup, Erica LU orcid ; Nyström, Marcus LU orcid ; Söderlund, Göran B.W. ; Claesdotter-Knutsson, Emma LU orcid ; Gustafsson, Peik LU orcid and Tallberg, Pia LU (2026) In Journal of Eye Movement Research 19(1).
Abstract

White noise has been proposed to enhance cognitive performance in children with ADHD, but findings are inconsistent, and benefits vary across tasks and individuals. Such variability suggests that diagnostic comparisons may overlook meaningful developmental differences. This exploratory study examined whether developmental characteristics and subjective evaluations of auditory and visual white noise predicted performance changes in two eye-movement tasks: Prolonged Fixation (PF) and Memory-Guided Saccades (MGS). Children with varying degrees of ADHD symptoms completed both tasks under noise and no-noise conditions, and noise benefit scores were calculated as the performance difference between conditions. Overall, white-noise effects were... (More)

White noise has been proposed to enhance cognitive performance in children with ADHD, but findings are inconsistent, and benefits vary across tasks and individuals. Such variability suggests that diagnostic comparisons may overlook meaningful developmental differences. This exploratory study examined whether developmental characteristics and subjective evaluations of auditory and visual white noise predicted performance changes in two eye-movement tasks: Prolonged Fixation (PF) and Memory-Guided Saccades (MGS). Children with varying degrees of ADHD symptoms completed both tasks under noise and no-noise conditions, and noise benefit scores were calculated as the performance difference between conditions. Overall, white-noise effects were small and dependent on noise modality and task. In the PF task, large parent-rated perceptual difficulties and high visual noise discomfort were associated with improved performance under noise. In the MGS task, poor motor skills predicted visual noise benefit, whereas large visual noise discomfort predicted reduced noise benefit. These findings suggest that beneficial effects of white noise are influenced by developmental characteristics and subjective perception in task-dependent ways. The results highlight the need for individualized, transdiagnostic approaches in future noise research and challenge the notion of white noise as categorically beneficial for ADHD.

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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
child development, memory-guided saccade, noise perception, prolonged fixation, white noise
in
Journal of Eye Movement Research
volume
19
issue
1
article number
18
publisher
International Group for Eye Movement Research
external identifiers
  • scopus:105030254343
  • pmid:41718378
ISSN
1995-8692
DOI
10.3390/jemr19010018
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
6ab04caa-d017-4da7-95fa-d1624c8083f3
date added to LUP
2026-03-03 12:26:09
date last changed
2026-03-17 17:55:05
@article{6ab04caa-d017-4da7-95fa-d1624c8083f3,
  abstract     = {{<p>White noise has been proposed to enhance cognitive performance in children with ADHD, but findings are inconsistent, and benefits vary across tasks and individuals. Such variability suggests that diagnostic comparisons may overlook meaningful developmental differences. This exploratory study examined whether developmental characteristics and subjective evaluations of auditory and visual white noise predicted performance changes in two eye-movement tasks: Prolonged Fixation (PF) and Memory-Guided Saccades (MGS). Children with varying degrees of ADHD symptoms completed both tasks under noise and no-noise conditions, and noise benefit scores were calculated as the performance difference between conditions. Overall, white-noise effects were small and dependent on noise modality and task. In the PF task, large parent-rated perceptual difficulties and high visual noise discomfort were associated with improved performance under noise. In the MGS task, poor motor skills predicted visual noise benefit, whereas large visual noise discomfort predicted reduced noise benefit. These findings suggest that beneficial effects of white noise are influenced by developmental characteristics and subjective perception in task-dependent ways. The results highlight the need for individualized, transdiagnostic approaches in future noise research and challenge the notion of white noise as categorically beneficial for ADHD.</p>}},
  author       = {{Jostrup, Erica and Nyström, Marcus and Söderlund, Göran B.W. and Claesdotter-Knutsson, Emma and Gustafsson, Peik and Tallberg, Pia}},
  issn         = {{1995-8692}},
  keywords     = {{child development; memory-guided saccade; noise perception; prolonged fixation; white noise}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{International Group for Eye Movement Research}},
  series       = {{Journal of Eye Movement Research}},
  title        = {{The Influence of Noise Perception and Parent-Rated Developmental Characteristics on White Noise Benefits in Children}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jemr19010018}},
  doi          = {{10.3390/jemr19010018}},
  volume       = {{19}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}