Nature Soundscapes and the Science of Natural Sound

Not All Nature Sounds Are Equal

The idea that nature sounds help people relax is old enough to feel obvious. Spa lobbies play rain loops. Sleep apps offer ocean waves. White noise machines come preloaded with forest recordings. The assumption is simple: nature sounds are pleasant, and pleasant sounds reduce stress.

But the research tells a more specific and more interesting story. Different natural sounds produce different cognitive effects. Water sounds and bird sounds do not work through the same mechanisms, do not affect the same outcomes, and are not interchangeable. The distinction matters for anyone designing an environment meant to support focus – and it matters for understanding why CyberSeals includes rain, ocean, and forest sounds as separate options rather than a single “nature” setting.

The PNAS Meta-Analysis

In 2021, a team led by Rachel Buxton at Carleton University published what remains the most comprehensive analysis of natural sound effects on human health. The study appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) and synthesized findings across 36 studies, with 18 included in the quantitative meta-analysis.

Two findings from the meta-analysis stand out. First, the effect sizes are substantial. A Cohen’s d of 1.63 for health outcomes is large by any standard in behavioral research. Second, the effects are not uniform across sound types. Water sounds – rain, streams, ocean waves – showed the strongest association with health and positive affect. Bird sounds showed the most consistent association with stress reduction and perceived restoration.

These are not small effects buried in noisy data. They are large, replicated across multiple independent studies, and consistent enough to survive meta-analytic aggregation. The question is not whether natural sounds affect cognition and well-being. The question is why – and which sounds work best for which outcomes.

Sound-Specific Effects

The Buxton meta-analysis provides the broadest evidence, but individual studies add detail about specific sound types.

Bird sounds have received particular attention. Eleanor Ratcliffe and colleagues at the University of Surrey found in 2013 that bird sounds are perceived as the most restorative of all natural sounds – more than water, wind, or general forest ambiance. But the effect depends on context: the species of bird matters, prior experience with the sounds matters, and compatibility with the listener’s current goals matters. A woodpecker during deep focus work produces a different experience than distant songbirds.

Forest soundscapes – which combine bird sounds, rustling leaves, distant water, and wind – appear to offer benefits beyond any single element. A 2025 study in Scientific Reports found that forest soundscapes improved mood, subjective restoration, and cognitive performance compared to industrial soundscapes. The effect was not simply about avoiding unpleasant sounds. Forest environments actively replenished cognitive resources.

Research on multi-sound combinations adds another layer. A 2024 study in Scientific Reports examined psychophysiological responses to natural soundscapes in a national forest park setting and found that combinations of natural sounds – water with birds, wind with forest ambiance – provided better restorative effects than single-element sounds alone.

It is important to note what the research does and does not support. The meta-level findings – nature sounds improve health and reduce stress, water sounds are strongest for health, bird sounds are strongest for stress – are well-established. But precise claims about individual sound types affecting specific cognitive metrics (memory, attention span, reaction time) are still emerging. Most findings are about perceived restoration and self-reported well-being, not about hard performance measures. The science is directional, not prescriptive.

Attention Restoration Theory

The theoretical framework that best explains why nature sounds help cognition is Attention Restoration Theory, proposed by Stephen and Rachel Kaplan in 1995 and refined over the following decades.

This framework explains why nature sounds work differently from music or speech. Music engages directed attention – especially music with lyrics, complex rhythms, or emotional content. Speech demands linguistic processing. But steady nature sounds – rain on a window, a distant stream, wind through leaves – engage soft fascination. They provide enough environmental information to satisfy the brain’s need for sensory input without requiring the kind of active processing that depletes attention.

The theory also explains why not all nature sounds are equally restorative. Sudden sounds – a bird alarm call, a crack of thunder, an animal cry – violate the “soft” in soft fascination. They trigger orienting responses, pull directed attention toward the source, and interrupt rather than restore. Steady-state sounds are restorative precisely because they are predictable enough to fade into the background while remaining rich enough to prevent the sensory deprivation that makes silence uncomfortable.

Designing With the Research

The CyberSeals audio library was not assembled randomly. Every nature sound in the library maps to one of the strongest-evidence categories from the research.

Rain (steady). Water sounds showed the largest health and positive affect improvements in the PNAS meta-analysis. The rain loop is steady-state – no thunder, no gusts, no irregular events. Changing-state sounds (sounds with sudden variations in volume, pitch, or rhythm) have been shown to distract rather than restore, particularly for individuals with attention difficulties. The loop is constant, predictable, and gentle.

Ocean waves. Another water sound, but with a different temporal pattern. Ocean waves provide a slow, rhythmic oscillation that some users find more grounding than the constant patter of rain. The loop avoids crashing waves or storm surf – the pattern stays within the steady-state boundary.

Forest birds. Bird sounds are the strongest category for stress reduction. The forest-birds loop uses melodic, gentle birdsong – the type that Ratcliffe’s research identified as most restorative – without harsh calls, alarm sounds, or sudden volume spikes.

The preset system pairs these sounds with congruent visual themes. The “Rainy Day” preset combines rain sounds with warm amber tones. This is not arbitrary aesthetics. Research on multisensory congruence suggests that matching audio and visual environments produces stronger restorative effects than either modality alone. When what you hear matches what you see, the brain processes the environment as a coherent whole rather than as competing sensory channels.

Critically, CyberSeals does not select sounds for the user. The research consistently shows that individual variation dominates every other finding. Some people find bird sounds calming while others find them distracting. Some people work best in silence. The only safe design principle is to offer options and let the user – or their parent – choose.

Listening With Intention

The science of natural sounds has moved well beyond “nature is relaxing.” Specific sound categories produce specific effects. Water sounds improve health outcomes. Bird sounds reduce stress. Forest soundscapes restore attention. Multi-sound combinations outperform single elements. And steady-state sounds restore where changing-state sounds distract.

These findings are robust enough to inform product design, but they are not prescriptions. The right sound for a specific child on a specific afternoon depends on that child – their sensory profile, their current state, and their personal preferences. Research provides the menu. The user makes the choice.

Explore the research behind CyberSeals