{"id":19460,"date":"2026-03-26T05:33:58","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T09:33:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/?p=19460"},"modified":"2026-03-26T05:33:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T09:33:44","slug":"your-eyes-are-key-to-filtering-sounds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/your-eyes-are-key-to-filtering-sounds\/19460\/","title":{"rendered":"Closing your eyes to concentrate feels natural but research shows your brain may work harder and less effectively"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The human brain is a complex and often misunderstood organ.<\/p>\n<p>Most of us close our eyes when trying to focus on a specific sound and filter out the noise of the world. However, a recent study has shown that this is actually the wrong way around. How we focus on the sounds around us<strong> is influenced by several factors.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>How do you block out the noise around you when trying to focus?<\/p>\n<h2>How your senses secretly team up to shape your reality<\/h2>\n<p>The human brain is a complex organ that science has only recently begun to figure out.<\/p>\n<p>We know that our brains operate on a default multisensory setting. Think of it like the natural operating state of thinking. We have five main senses, but science has found that our brains and bodies actually <strong>have as many as 21 different sensory systems<\/strong> that enable us to navigate the world.<\/p>\n<p>Without one sense, the others struggle to pick up the slack.<\/p>\n<p>What we know as &#8220;taste&#8221; is actually mostly smell. Roughly 80% of our taste <strong>comes from our ability to smell.<\/strong> That&#8217;s why when you have a blocked or stuffy nose when sick, food seems to taste flat.<\/p>\n<h2>We have revealed a new world within us by studying our&nbsp;<em>noggins<\/em><\/h2>\n<p>Human science has been making revolutionary discoveries about ourselves in recent years.<\/p>\n<p>We now have a much better understanding of <strong>how our brains and bodies work together.<\/strong> One neuroscientist has found the exact <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/negative-thinking-affects-our-health\/19235\/\">effect of negative thoughts on our thinking patterns.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Our senses are dominated by the most influential of them, our ability to see.<\/p>\n<p>Sight dominates our other senses, often overriding them <strong>despite the obvious right in front of us.<\/strong> That&#8217;s why your brain allows you to relocate a ventriloquist&#8217;s voice from the speaker to the dummy he is holding.<\/p>\n<p>And science has taught us that we have a deep-rooted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/your-brain-can-rewire-itself-at-any-age\/19090\/\">ability to rewire our brains at almost any age.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Our senses are a complex dance that plays out in real time, allowing us to make sense of the world around us. So how exactly have we gotten it so wrong when trying to<strong> filter out the world of noise<\/strong> around us to focus on a singular sound?<\/p>\n<p>A study, &#8220;Closing your eyes to hear better might be a big mistake,&#8221; published by the American Institute of Physics in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedaily.com\/releases\/2026\/03\/260320073819.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>ScienceDaily<\/em><\/a>, has provided some answers.<\/p>\n<h2>Focusing on a single sound does not require you to close your eyes<\/h2>\n<p>Science is based on the concept that when we are presented with new information that contradicts our previously established beliefs, we must change.<\/p>\n<p>For most of us, when trying to focus on a specific sound, we close our eyes in an attempt to filter out the noisy world around us. People chatting, cars passing by, and even a baby crying can seemingly <strong>distract us from that one sound<\/strong> we are trying to focus on.<\/p>\n<p>But the aforementioned study has shown that this is actually incorrect.<\/p>\n<h3>Changing how you focus requires all of your senses<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Researchers from the American Institute of Physics<\/strong> have conducted an extensive study that proves sensory teamwork, that is, our senses working together in harmony, actually improves our ability to focus on one specific sound.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/human-brain-produces-electrical-signals\/19147\/\">Our brains produce delicate electrical signals<\/a> that work in tandem with our sensory network.<\/p>\n<p>When we close our eyes, our brains <strong>enter what is known as neural criticality:<\/strong> working extremely hard to filter information, potentially suppressing the actual noise we are trying to focus on.<\/p>\n<p>What exactly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/study-answers-how-some-sleep-less\/19140\/\">takes place when we close our eyes, be it sleeping<\/a> or simply trying to focus, is affected by all our senses.<\/p>\n<p>Are you one of the many who close your eyes when trying to focus on a specific sound? If so, we suggest you try <strong>to do the same with your eyes open.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The human brain is a complex and often misunderstood organ. Most of us close our eyes when trying to focus on a specific sound and filter out the noise of the world. However, a recent study has shown that this is actually the wrong way around. How we focus on the sounds around us is &#8230; <a title=\"Closing your eyes to concentrate feels natural but research shows your brain may work harder and less effectively\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/your-eyes-are-key-to-filtering-sounds\/19460\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Closing your eyes to concentrate feels natural but research shows your brain may work harder and less effectively\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":19576,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_focus_keyword":"eyes,sound","rank_math_title":"","rank_math_description":"A recent study has found that most of us who close our eyes to focus on a specific sound are actually wrong and we should keep our eyes open to help hearing","footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-human-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19460\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}