Music And The Brain: Is Listening To Mozart Really Able To Make You Smarter?
Mozart, the master of true classical music who wrote his first compositions at the age of 6 and moved on to make himself immortal with his brilliant compositions that flawlessly combine the complex with the elegant.
Writing this while listening to Piano Concerto no. 22, I have to say that I do appreciate my sporadic dosage of baroque music every now and then, especially when working or concentrating on tasks that require a great amount of focus.
Now you might not really enjoy classical music that much, but it appears that there is more to Mozart's' work than merely a bunch of pianos and violins being played in harmonious synchronization; apparently Mozart's' music can serve as a brain supplement and enhance the performance of your brain!
This phenomenon is named the 'Mozart effect', and was quite the social hype in the '90s. Looking at some scientific research, it can be observed that scientists found out that after listening to Mozart's sonatas, subjects experienced a temporary increase in spatial intelligence, something related to problem solving.
This fact led to the wide promotion of Mozart's music as the new magic pill leading to enhanced intelligence, with a potential rise in IQ of up to 50%! His music was being promoted as the cure to depressions, to solution to gain infinite wealth and the key to save your marriage.
With albums labeled 'Mozart Vol. 3 - Increase Your Confidence' popping up everywhere. Now wild claims like these might be a bit over the top -as I'm still waiting for my infinite wealth - but the concept behind these claims remains interesting nonetheless!
Even wider implications back in 90's stated that every day-care facility in some states in the USA should play Mozart for a certain time each day to improve the kids' mental performance. It never got that far though, as the Mozart effect never got completely accepted by the scientific community. Different research gave different results, and where one team found that Mozart's pieces lowered the change on epilepsy, another team concluded that the effects could merely be ascribed to 'enjoyment arousal'.
True scientific consensus about the possible nature of the Mozart effect has thus never been achieved.
Whatever the real scientific mechanisms are responsible for the various results, fact remains that the Mozart effect is an interesting phenomenon and definitely something you should check out for yourself in order to discover any potential positive effects.
Writing this while listening to Piano Concerto no. 22, I have to say that I do appreciate my sporadic dosage of baroque music every now and then, especially when working or concentrating on tasks that require a great amount of focus.
Now you might not really enjoy classical music that much, but it appears that there is more to Mozart's' work than merely a bunch of pianos and violins being played in harmonious synchronization; apparently Mozart's' music can serve as a brain supplement and enhance the performance of your brain!
This phenomenon is named the 'Mozart effect', and was quite the social hype in the '90s. Looking at some scientific research, it can be observed that scientists found out that after listening to Mozart's sonatas, subjects experienced a temporary increase in spatial intelligence, something related to problem solving.
This fact led to the wide promotion of Mozart's music as the new magic pill leading to enhanced intelligence, with a potential rise in IQ of up to 50%! His music was being promoted as the cure to depressions, to solution to gain infinite wealth and the key to save your marriage.
With albums labeled 'Mozart Vol. 3 - Increase Your Confidence' popping up everywhere. Now wild claims like these might be a bit over the top -as I'm still waiting for my infinite wealth - but the concept behind these claims remains interesting nonetheless!
Even wider implications back in 90's stated that every day-care facility in some states in the USA should play Mozart for a certain time each day to improve the kids' mental performance. It never got that far though, as the Mozart effect never got completely accepted by the scientific community. Different research gave different results, and where one team found that Mozart's pieces lowered the change on epilepsy, another team concluded that the effects could merely be ascribed to 'enjoyment arousal'.
True scientific consensus about the possible nature of the Mozart effect has thus never been achieved.
Whatever the real scientific mechanisms are responsible for the various results, fact remains that the Mozart effect is an interesting phenomenon and definitely something you should check out for yourself in order to discover any potential positive effects.
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