The American neurobiologist Leo Chalupa argues that we need a day of complete silence to achieve optimal brain function. Our mind should rest from the continuous bombardment it suffers: if this idea were to become generalized, spaces could be created for that disconnection from techno-stress , beneficial for the mind.
This scientist is one of the many apologists for silence, supported by numerous investigations. One of the most recent indicates that a time without auditory stimuli relaxes as much as listening to quiet music . The change in cardiovascular, cerebral and respiratory variables is similar. In addition, silence recharges our brain. The excess of stimuli leaves the prefrontal cortex , in charge of reasoning, without resources. Without silence, we can only respond minute by minute: higher thinking ceases to exist and is only reactivated in the absence of stimuli .
In fact, that regenerative effect could be physical. A study from the University of Dresden (Germany) recently showed that two hours of daily silence lead to the development of new cells in the hippocampus of mice that served as experimental subjects.
