No published study has yet tested brown noise in people with ADHD. White and pink noise have been tested: they slightly improve performance on laboratory tasks lasting a few minutes. Here are the details, and how to try it without risking your hearing.
- Measured effect: small, according to a 2024 meta-analysis of 13 studies and 335 young people.
- Brown noise: no published ADHD study to date.
- Without ADHD: the same noise slightly lowered performance.
A trend born on social media
Since 2022, videos have presented brown noise as a way to "quiet" the ADHD brain. The authors of the reference meta-analysis mention tens of millions of social media views and several articles in major US and UK press outlets. This success rests on personal stories.
To hear the difference, our brown, pink and white noise generator plays all three for free in your browser, without storing anything.
White, pink, brown: what is the difference?
These "colors" describe how the energy of a noise is spread between low and high pitches.
| Noise | How energy is spread | Sounds like | ADHD studies |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | Equal at all frequencies | Radio static | 12 in the 2024 meta-analysis |
| Pink | Falls as frequency rises (1/f) | Rain | 1 in the meta-analysis, 2 recent ones in undiagnosed adults |
| Brown | Falls even faster (1/f²): mostly low tones | A waterfall | None published |
Here, "brown" comes from "Brownian": like Brownian motion, this noise follows a random walk.
Where the idea comes from: a brain that needs a little noise
In 2007, two Swedish researchers, Sverker Sikström and Göran Söderlund, proposed the "moderate brain arousal" model. The brain would work best at a middle level of arousal, and in ADHD, an environment with too little stimulation would leave arousal too low.
Noise would help through "stochastic resonance": in some systems, a little random noise makes a weak signal easier to detect. In their computer simulations, a brain with less dopamine needed more noise to benefit.
The same year, they tested the idea in 21 boys with ADHD and 21 without, aged 9 to 13. With white noise, the ADHD group did better on memory tasks and the other group did worse. A large brain-imaging study also suggests that stimulant medications act mainly on arousal and reward networks.
What the 2024 meta-analysis shows
Joel Nigg and colleagues at Oregon Health & Science University published this meta-analysis online on 28 February 2024 in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, with a protocol registered in advance. Its free version on PubMed Central (August 2025) is not a second study.
It pooled 13 studies published up to 1 November 2023: 335 children, teenagers and college students with ADHD or high ADHD symptoms, who did laboratory tasks (attention, memory, reading...) with and without noise.
- Result: a small benefit (effect size g = 0.25; 95% confidence interval 0.14 to 0.36). The authors put the average effect of ADHD medication at around 0.7 or more.
- Without ADHD: in 11 studies, noise slightly lowered performance (g = -0.21).
- Certainty: moderate. No study was blinded (hard to do with sound); the authors cannot rule out a Hawthorne effect (doing better because you know you are being watched).
- Which noise: 12 studies on white noise and only one on pink noise, which did not reduce impulsive choices in 25 children with ADHD.
- One prominent researcher: Göran Söderlund is first or senior author of 6 of the 13 studies; without them, the result holds (g = 0.23). In 2014, he declared that he had founded a company, Smartnoise AB, with Sverker Sikström to develop a noise-based tool; it was not yet active and no product was available.
Sessions lasted a few minutes, at varying volumes. Nothing is known about long-term daily use or about effects in real life. For adults, there were only two studies, both unpublished master's theses.
Since then, more mixed results
- Sweden, 2024: in 43 children diagnosed with ADHD, white noise had no significant effect across the group. The more inattentive children benefited, while the more hyperactive or impulsive ones did worse.
- Sweden, 2024: in 52 children with ADHD and 45 without, no benefit on eye-movement control tasks.
- Italy, 2026: in 26 children with learning disorders (some also with ADHD), white noise helped them read made-up words but hurt their accuracy when writing them.
- Belgium, 2024 and 2026: in undiagnosed adults, those with the most ADHD traits responded as much to a steady pure tone, with nothing random about it, as to pink noise. So stochastic resonance may not be needed.
So the benefit depends on the task and on the person. What matters may not be noise as such, but simply adding some stimulation.
What about brown noise?
The meta-analysis found no study of brown noise up to November 2023, and we have found none since in PubMed. Its authors think the results might extend to brown noise, since they see these noises as close in theory. That is a hypothesis, not data.
A University College London study published in October 2025 measured pupil size, a marker of arousal, in 31 adults listening to all three noises: no difference. Each noise lasted only 10 seconds, and the study was not about ADHD.
If it feels more pleasant to you, choose it: nothing shows it works better.
When it may not be a good idea
- No attention difficulties: the average effect is slightly negative. Silence may be the better choice.
- Strong sensitivity to sound: a constant noise can be tiring or irritating. According to a recent study, sensory overload is mainly tied to autism and anxiety. Our sensory processing questionnaire (SPQ) can help you understand your profile.
- Misophonia: reactions are triggered by specific sounds, often chewing or breathing, not by loudness. Turning up a background noise to cover them exposes your ears to louder sound. See our article on misophonia and the MisoQuest test.
If the sound bothers you, gives you a headache or tires you, stop.
Volume and duration: the official benchmarks
For listening through headphones or earbuds, the World Health Organization (WHO) gives a benchmark: 80 dB for 40 hours a week for adults, 75 dB for children. Above that, the safe time gets shorter. The WHO advises keeping personal devices below 60% of maximum volume and taking breaks.
Yet several white noise studies played about 80 dB to children through headphones, for a few minutes. That is above the WHO benchmark for children: not a level to keep for hours every day. The meta-analysis authors stress it: the lowest effective volume is unknown, and long exposure, even at moderate levels, can damage hearing.
For babies: in 2014, a Toronto team measured 14 infant sleep machines at full volume. At 30 cm, all exceeded 50 dB, the recommended limit for infants in hospital nurseries, and three exceeded 85 dB. The American Academy of Pediatrics advises placing the machine as far as possible from the baby's head and using it only for a short time.
How to try it, if you want to
- Low volume: just enough to cover the sounds around you. You should still hear someone talking to you.
- Short sessions: the length of one task, with a set stop time.
- Compare: the same kind of task with and without noise, over several days. The effect varies from person to person.
Our noise generator has a stop timer with a fade-out, so the sound does not keep running without you noticing.
Background noise is not an ADHD treatment. If attention difficulties weigh on your daily life, the ADHD self-assessment questionnaire (ASRS) can be a starting point. Its result is not a diagnosis: talk to your doctor, and never change a treatment without their advice.
Frequently asked questions
Is brown noise better than white noise for ADHD?
Nobody knows: no study has compared them in ADHD. Choose the one you find easiest to bear.
Can white noise replace treatment?
No. Its average effect is small and has only been measured over a few minutes, in a lab. The meta-analysis authors see it as a possible add-on that needs confirming before any recommendation.
Can I listen to noise all day?
It is not advisable: no study has looked at long-term use, and the risk to hearing grows with both volume and time.
References: Nigg J. T., Bruton A., Kozlowski M. B., Johnstone J. M., Karalunas S. L. (2024). Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis: Do White Noise or Pink Noise Help With Task Performance in Youth With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder or With Elevated Attention Problems? Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 63(8), 778-788. Preregistered meta-analysis (PROSPERO CRD42023393992), 13 studies, N = 335; author manuscript PMC11283987 | Sikström S., Söderlund G. (2007). Stimulus-dependent dopamine release in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Psychological Review, 114(4), 1047-1075. Theoretical model and simulations | Söderlund G., Sikström S., Smart A. (2007). Listen to the noise: noise is beneficial for cognitive performance in ADHD. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 48(8), 840-847. Experimental study, 21 children with ADHD and 21 controls | Helps S. K., Bamford S., Sonuga-Barke E. J. S., Söderlund G. B. W. (2014). Different effects of adding white noise on cognitive performance of sub-, normal and super-attentive school children. PLoS ONE, 9(11), e112768. 90 children; competing interests statement | Metin B. et al. (2016). Environmental stimulation does not reduce impulsive choice in ADHD: a "pink noise" study. Journal of Attention Disorders, 20(1), 63-70. 25 children with ADHD and 28 controls | Söderlund G. B., Björk C., Gustafsson P. (2016). Comparing auditory noise treatment with stimulant medication on cognitive task performance in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: results from a pilot study. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1331. Pilot study, 20 + 20 children, white noise at 80 dB | Söderlund G. B. W. et al. (2024). Sensory white noise in clinical ADHD: who benefits from noise, and who performs worse? Scandinavian Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology, 12(1), 92-99. 43 children with ADHD | Jostrup E. et al. (2024). No effects of auditory and visual white noise on oculomotor control in children with ADHD. Journal of Attention Disorders, 28(13), 1668-1683. 52 children with ADHD and 45 controls | Cavalieri E. et al. (2026). Effects of white noise on academic skills in children with ADHD and specific learning disorders: new perspectives for personalised rehabilitation and educational intervention. Pediatric Reports, 18(3), 81. 30 children enrolled (12 with ADHD), 26 analyzed | Rijmen J., Wiersema J. R. (2024). Stochastic resonance is not required for pink noise to have beneficial effects on ADHD-related performance? The moderate brain arousal model challenged. Neuropsychologia, 202, 108961. 60 adults | Rijmen J., Senoussi M., Wiersema J. R. (2026). Pink noise and a pure tone both reduce 1/f neural noise in adults with elevated ADHD traits: a critical appraisal of the moderate brain arousal model. Journal of Attention Disorders, 30(1), 23-37. 69 adults, EEG | Erfanian M., Chait M., Kang J. (2025). Pupil-linked arousal does not differ between 'white', 'pink' and 'brown' noises. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 218, 113271. 31 adults aged 19 to 35 analyzed, 10-second sounds | Kay B. P. et al. (2025). Stimulant medications affect arousal and reward, not attention networks. Cell, 188(26), 7529-7546.e20. Resting-state functional MRI, ABCD Study (n = 11,875 children aged 8 to 11) | Carey S., Ross J. M., Abney D., Balasubramaniam R. (2024). Effects of auditory noise intensity and color on the dynamics of upright stance. Scientific Reports, 14, 10518 (definitions of the noise spectra) | Swedo S. E. et al. (2022). Consensus definition of misophonia: a Delphi study. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 16, 841816 | Hugh S. C. et al. (2014). Infant sleep machines and hazardous sound pressure levels. Pediatrics, 133(4), 677-681. Measurements of 14 devices | American Academy of Pediatrics, How Noise Affects Children, HealthyChildren.org, last updated 20 October 2023 | WHO and ITU (2019). Safe listening devices and systems: a WHO-ITU standard | WHO. Deafness and hearing loss: safe listening (questions and answers), last updated 6 March 2026