The proposed study is a prospective, longitudinal, analysis of the psychophysiological effects of chronic exposure to environmental stress. The proposed research takes advantage of a unique, naturally occurring experiment caused by the relocation of a major international airport. At the present airport site we will monitor people currently exposed to high levels of noise and then track these same individuals as their ambient environment becomes normal following the shutdown of the airport. At the new airport site, the opposite situation will occur: Individuals currently living in normal, quiet ambient conditions will become exposed to loud aircraft noise. At both sites, control groups will be formed who are not exposed to aircraft noise. The present proposal will piggyback onto a German sponsored grant. NIH funds are requested to cover costs of cardiovascular and psycho-physiological data analysis. Measures will include biochemical assays of chronic neuroendocrine markers of stress, resting blood pressure, and reactivity of blood pressure during cognitive tasks. Perceptions of community noise levels will also be assessed as possible mediators of the stressful effects of chronic exposure to ambient, environmental noise.
| Tafalla, R J; Evans, G W (1997) Noise, physiology, and human performance: the potential role of effort. J Occup Health Psychol 2:148-55 |
