Infrasound Affects Brain

11th October, 2025.

By Madeleine Staaf Kura i Vindkraftsupplysningen Publicerat den 

On October 8, 2025, Dr. Håkan Enbom, M.D., Ph.D., ENT specialist and otoneurologist, presented his lecture “Infrasound Affects the Brain” in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The event was hosted by Landsforeningen Naboer til Kæmpevindmøller as part of a historic seminar that also featured Professor Ken Mattsson from Uppsala University, Sweden.

Together, their presentations formed a scientific milestone — bridging acoustical physics and medical neuroscience to expose the long-overlooked health implications of wind-turbine infrasound.

Dr. Enbom is one of Scandinavia’s leading otoneurologists, a field that links the ear, balance system, and brain function. Drawing on extensive clinical experience and peer-reviewed research, he explained how infrasound and low-frequency noise can affect the vestibular system — the body’s internal balance organ — even when the sound is below the threshold of hearing.

He described how infrasound influences the brain both directly, through skull transmission, and indirectly via the inner ear. Everyone can be affected by the pulsating nature of infrasound from wind turbines. Highly sensitive individuals may experience symptoms after only brief exposure. Approximately 25–30% of the population is believed to have a genetic predisposition to hypersensitivity, often associated with migraine and migraine-related disorders.

Infrasound can also trigger annoyance, sleep disturbance, anxiety, and depression. The degree of infrasonic trauma depends on both sound pressure and exposure duration — yet no official guidelines currently exist for acceptable infrasound levels or safety distances.

“Even when sound is inaudible, the brain detects vibration and pressure changes.

These signals can disturb the vestibular system and lead to physiological stress.”

— Dr. Håkan Enbom

This mechanism helps explain many of the symptoms reported by residents living near large wind turbines, including:

– sleep disturbance

– dizziness and nausea

– tinnitus and fatigue

-cognitive stress and concentration difficulties

According to Dr. Enbom, these reactions are neurologically measurable, not psychological — fully consistent with the body’s physiological response to continuous low-frequency stimulation.

While Prof. Mattsson’s lecture demonstrated the physical propagation of infrasound up to 10 kilometres from wind turbines, Dr. Enbom’s contribution revealed how that sound interacts with the human nervous system.

The combination of the two disciplines — computational mathematics and clinical medicine — provides solid, interdisciplinary evidence that current environmental noise standards fail to address the real biological effects of wind-turbine noise.

“When the brain receives conflicting information from the vestibular and visual systems, it produces symptoms of imbalance and nausea. This is not imagination — it is physiology.”

— Dr. Håkan Enbom

Dr. Enbom stressed that existing regulations and dBA measurements are scientifically outdated.

They exclude the very frequencies now known to affect autonomic functions — including heart rate, blood pressure, and stress hormone levels.

He urged health authorities to acknowledge these findings and integrate infrasound research into public health assessments and environmental permitting processes.

Political Momentum in Brussels

The timing of the Copenhagen seminar coincided with a historic session of the European Parliament’s Committee on Petitions (PETI), where the EU petition on wind-turbine noise and human health received strong cross-party support. Members from EPP, S&D, PfE, The Greens/EFA, and ECR praised the petition’s scientific quality, calling for a review of EU noise standards and greater protection for citizens.

The European Commission confirmed it will submit a written opinion within three months and consider wind-turbine infrasound in both the Environmental Noise Directive and the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) — particularly regarding Renewables Acceleration Areas.

For the first time, wind-turbine noise is entering EU policy discussions — a breakthrough achieved through sustained European cooperation among EU-citizens.

Dr. Enbom’s lecture adds the medical dimension that has long been missing, or ignored from Europe’s energy debate. By linking clinical observations with scientific acoustics, he provides the evidence base needed to reshape environmental and health policy at both national and EU level.

This marks not only a turning point in science, but also a victory for transparency, human rights, and public health in the green transition.

In combining the physical insights of Prof. Ken Mattsson with the medical expertise of Dr. Håkan Enbom, the Copenhagen seminar revealed what many authorities have overlooked for years:

that wind-turbine noise is not merely an annoyance — it is a physiological stressor with measurable effects on the human brain.

The growing acknowledgment of this fact in Brussels and across Europe may well mark the beginning of a new chapter in how renewable energy and public health are balanced in policy-making.

---

Watch seminar on YouTube with English subtitles.