Chris O.Our relationship with music changes depending on mood and circumstances. Depending on whether we are riding high or feeling low, our playlist changes dramatically. Listening to our favorite sad songs is a common consolation prize after a breakup, and rock music is often the soundtrack to many-a-speeding tickets. However, while music can definitely help us evoke a certain mood, or lean into certain behaviors, can it actually make us smarter? There have long been myths and rumors that listening to Mozart in the womb can turn you into some sort of supergenius, but does any of it actually ring true?
There is some evidence that indicates listening to music may improve your overall intelligence, and have some other beneficial effects as well! There’s also some indication that music can help do everything from communicate and retrieve memories to reducing seizure risk and boosting the immune system. Those snazzy beats really can do anything, can’t they?! But the type of music in-question may surprise you. Is it really Mozart and other classical musicians who hold the keys to improving your cognitive abilities? Or is there an entirely different genre of music that is key to growing that brain of yours? In this article, we are going to dig into the research behind music and intelligence, and see if there is any truth behind the rumor that what you listen to can make you smarter.
What is Spatial Ability?
Spatial skills are what help us understand the relationships between objects in different scenarios and situations. Essentially, our spatial ability is what helps us to comprehend, envision, and manipulate objects and shapes in space, and how they impact each other and their environment. A simple example of this is when kids place the correct shapes into the correct holes, or when someone swishes a basketball from the 3-point line. We’re both very proud of people when they do either of those things, but only one of them is likely to end in an NBA career. Nonetheless, our spatial ability is an important facet of our overall intelligence, and sections for it are often included in IQ tests.
How Music Helps Us Think
Now that you know all of that, you are probably asking yourself, “What does that have to do with music?” Well, according to some rather famous research published in the journal “Nature,” music and spatial ability may be directly related. The paper, titled, “Music and Spatial Task Performance: A Causal Relationship,” by Rauscher et al., tests the hypothesis that spatial ability and music are related; in other words, that listening to music can help you improve an aspect of your intelligence.
Included in the research paper are two studies of particular interest. The first concerns a group of undergraduate students studying at the Psychology Department of the University of California, Irvine. According to the study, all of the students were given a spatial intelligence reasoning test. However, for about ten minutes before the test began, one group of students listened to Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major, while others listened to hypnosis instructions or nothing at all. The students who listened to Mozart, it turns out, scored 8-9 points higher on their test. That’s one point in the classical music column, but it may also just be an indication that listening to music can help you think more clearly and recall memories more efficiently.
The second study followed young kids just headed into preschool. One group of soon-to-be preschoolers, however, were enrolled in eight months of music lessons, and the others were not. I do feel like that’s kind of a bummer for the students who weren’t selected, but I digress. After those eight months, both groups of students were tested for their memory. Big surprise: the preschoolers who received a musical education scored significantly higher on their testing than the others.
Does the Genre Matter?
Apparently, the genre of music you listen to does matter. However, not in the way you may think. Previously, researchers were convinced that classical music was the secret, because the music seemed to make listeners smarter (they call this the “Mozart effect”). More recent studies and research have pushed back against this, however. As it turns out, when people listen to their favorite music — songs they prefer whether they are classical, rock, hip-hop, or anything else — they receive the most benefit. So, music can provide many benefits, and can even make you smarter, but you should not be a snob about what you, or others, listen to. Just know that those tunes are benefiting you, and keep on listening!
