Beyond the Mozart Effect: Tuning into the Cognitive Benefits of Music

Daniel Bader

Illustrations by Michelle Schaffer

What if the key to boosting your child’s intelligence wasn’t in a Mozart CD, but in a more nuanced understanding of how music affects the brain? For years, parents have been playing classical music for their infants, hoping it will make them smarter [1, 2]. This popular belief has led many to assume that exposure to classical music could significantly enhance a child’s cognitive abilities. But is there really scientific evidence to support this claim? This fallacy stems from a highly-referenced study that claimed that listening to Mozart temporarily increases spatial intelligence in college students [3, 4]. Spatial intelligence describes the ability to analyze objects in three-dimensional space and draw conclusions based on limited information [5]. Tasks such as envisioning molecules in chemistry class and navigating the streets of New York City utilize spatial intelligence [6]. Although the initial study only concerned spatial intelligence, popular media overgeneralized the results and reported that listening to classical music permanently enhances general intelligence [7, 8]. The public misconception that music directly correlates with intelligence was labeled the ‘Mozart Effect’. Many parents were led to believe that exposure to Mozart’s music would improve their child’s intelligence. As a result countless parents purchased Mozart CDs to expose their infant children and developing fetuses to classical music, hoping that their purchase would yield cognitive benefits for their children [7, 8]. However, there is no direct link between classical music and intelligence [7, 9]. While there are cognitive benefits to listening to music, these benefits are not exclusive to listening to solely classical music [3, 10]. How music impacts cognitive performance extends beyond the erroneous ‘Mozart Effect.’

Mind Over Melody?

Does a particular song or genre increase your productivity when studying? Contrary to the Mozart effect, listening to music does not directly enhance general intelligence. Instead, listening to music can indirectly boost cognitive function, which is a key idea of the Arousal Mood Hypothesis (AMH) [3, 11]. The AMH suggests that listening to music induces arousal, leading to improvements in reading comprehension and problem-solving abilities. Arousal is the degree of excitement and alertness experienced by an individual in response to external stimuli [3, 12, 13]. Listening to pleasant music improves mood and increases arousal, which can, in turn, improve cognitive function while actively performing tasks [3, 14]. The AMH also asserts that too much arousal can distract individuals, negatively impacting their performance on select tasks [3]. Although a heavy metal fan may find rock music to be very pleasurable, they might not listen to it while doing homework; the presence of lyrics and loud, fast melodies may have a distracting effect on listeners, counteracting the potential positive impact of music on cognitive tasks like reading and writing. Hence, the optimal music to boost cognitive performance is music that the listener enjoys but is not so loud or distracting as to impede their concentration [3].

Listening to music can contribute to feelings of immense pleasure through dopamine release [15]. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter — or a chemical messenger of the nervous system — that is involved in reward-based learning [15, 16]. Dopamine release has been found to improve our mood and increase arousal, which can boost cognitive performance [15, 16, 17]. However, the relationship between dopamine and cognitive performance is not linear; dopamine levels that are too low or too high can impede cognitive performance [18]. Memory plays a crucial role in our ability to complete cognitive tasks [19]. Different types of information are stored within different categories of memories, and our episodic memory is responsible for storing our personal history and is invoked when we recall our life experiences [20]. Our ability to create new episodic memories is heightened following exposure to a stimulus that induces dopamine secretion, such as music [15]. Additionally, dopamine is linked to improvements in working memory performance, relating arousal and dopamine to learning [21]. Working memory refers to the small amount of task-relevant information that is readily accessible to us, and is instrumental to our ability to plan, problem-solve, and comprehend information [19]. For example, working memory is crucial for our ability to navigate; we utilize our working memory when we drive to a familiar destination for the first time without consulting a GPS [22]. Increased arousal also leads to an increase in working memory capacity, further suggesting that stimuli triggering dopamine secretion — such as music — can boost cognitive function [21, 23, 24].

The Mozart Effect Exposed: How Classical Music Actually Influences Cognitive Processes

Although recent studies refute overgeneralizing the Mozart Effect, listening to classical music can lead to cognitive benefits, like improvements in sustained attention [3, 25]. Pop, rock, and jazz music have been shown to impede our attention. Slow, non-vocal classical music, however, does not impede our attention [3, 26]. Music with lyrics can be distracting, as the presence of words hinders our ability to comprehend the words we read and encode them to our memory [3, 25, 26]. Instrumental music lowers our heart rate and blood pressure and allows us to relax, which may explain why non-lyrical genres of music — such as classical and lo-fi — support our ability to execute cognitive processes like reading and completing homework [26, 27]. Additionally, classical music is effective in reducing the stress hormone cortisol. Reductions in cortisol levels can lead to feelings of relaxation, which could explain why classical music may relax listeners [27]. Lyrical music may be less relaxing because lyrics require attention to process [3, 28]. Additionally, lyrics of a familiar language interfere with cognitive performance more than lyrics of an unfamiliar language, suggesting that lyrics themselves are not inherently distracting. Rather, one’s degree of familiarity with the lyrical language they are listening to may determine how distracting the lyrics are on their ability to complete a task [3, 28]. As reading and listening to lyrical music both require language processing, doing both at the same time limits our reading comprehension ability [29, 30]. In essence, listening to music with lyrics while reading is a form of multitasking, and because of the limitations in our brain’s ability to switch our attention, multitasking can be very challenging [31]. Most attempts at multitasking involve rapidly switching from one task to another because the brain most effectively operates with a single goal in mind. Switching between tasks leads to a decreased ability to focus on tasks and efficiently complete them [31]. Listening to lyrical music has been found to be detrimental when performing verbal recall tasks as well; lyrics are subconsciously committed to our long-term memory instead of the subject we are trying to learn, interfering with future retrieval of the content we intend to commit to memory [29]. Classical music is an excellent choice of background music because it optimizes arousal while mitigating the potential distracting effect of lyrics [3, 25].

Other characteristics of music — such as tempo, volume, and tonal changes — can also impede our ability to perform tasks [32]. Simple music, which is characterized by consistent, narrow tonal ranges, is recommended to support our ability to study and read [32, 33]. Imagine you are doing homework in a quiet classroom when the squeak of a chair sliding across the floor draws your attention. The tone change involuntarily distracts you, impeding your ability to concentrate. Changes in tone require our attention and utilize cognitive resources that could be directed toward tasks we are trying to complete [32]. Likewise, music characterized by a fast tempo is theorized to be more distracting than slow-tempo music due to the presence of more auditory stimuli, which each require attentional resources to process [17, 34]. The sounds of a woodpecker's beak hitting a tree are frequent and distracting, with each auditory peck demanding your attention. Similarly, fast-tempo music is more distracting due to its quicker pace and greater frequency of beats [17, 34]. Music volume also affects our ability to concentrate on a task, as loud music can be overly arousing and impede our ability to focus our attention [34, 35]. Classical music often exhibits slow tempos, consistent tonal ranges, and low volumes, providing benefits when performing cognitive tasks by limiting distraction [32, 36].

The slow tempo, repetitive tonal ranges, and low volume characteristic of classical music affect the activity of our autonomic nervous system (ANS), which regulates involuntary physiological processes such as our heart rate, blood pressure, and ability to breathe [25, 37]. In response to music with a slow tempo, a part of our ANS called the vagus nerve decreases blood pressure after detecting vibrations, which contributes to a feeling of relaxation [25, 37]. Conversely, faster music increases our blood pressure and heart rate, inducing arousal rather than relaxation [25]. In addition to impacting blood pressure, classical music has been used therapeutically to alleviate stress [37]. Classical music significantly lowers the stress hormone corticosterone in rodents, which is comparable to the stress hormone cortisol in humans [37]. As a result, classical music has been implemented as background music in many hospitals to reduce people’s stress, anxiety, and pain levels [38]. While classical music may not be unique in its ability to relieve stress, not all genres of music decrease stress levels [37, 39]. Rock music and atonal composition music — or music without a central tone, harmonies, or keys — are ineffective in reducing stress [37, 39]. Ultimately, the stress-relieving effect of classical music can likely be attributed to its rhythmic structure and emotional impact, further cementing how properties of classical music support cognition [37].

Music Rocks! The Benefits of Music

People can use music to enhance their enjoyment and capacity to perform long and tedious tasks [40]. When performing tasks that are monotonous or those that do not require a high level of focus, listening to pleasurable music can be used to improve mood and well-being, which can lead to improved task performance [40]. For example, listening to music while driving can be extremely beneficial by moderating the driver’s arousal, which in turn may limit the stress they experience and prevent drowsiness [41, 42]. Additionally, pleasurable music can limit mind-wandering when driving long distances by contributing to enhanced and sustained focus [17, 42]. While listening to slower music may not increase arousal enough to sustain prolonged attention, listening to fast-tempo music can be overstimulating, and has been correlated with an increase in driving speed and number of lane crossings [42, 43]. Medium-tempo music is theorized to be best to support driving; while it increases arousal and minimizes fatigue, medium-tempo music is not overly stimulating to the point of inhibiting our attention and ability to reach our intended destination safely [42]. Music volume has also been associated with driving speed: high volume tends to increase our driving speed while low volume decreases it, highlighting how music can impact arousal [17, 41, 42].

Listening to music can also distract us from exertion during exercise by stimulating arousal and distracting us from strenuous physical efforts [44]. While fast-paced music is energizing, slower and less distracting music can lead to quicker fatigue as it causes us to focus more on the effort we exert [44]. Fast-paced music has also been theorized to increase power output and decrease muscular fatigue, which are both beneficial when performing resistance-based and weight-training exercises [45]. High-volume alerts — like fire alarms or amber alerts — are used to maximize reaction time efficiency by attracting our attention [46]. When your phone receives a notification, you may not hear the buzz since the quiet noise is easy to ignore. However, if a fire alarm goes off, you will hear it and react instantly because the loud noise demands your attention. Increased music volume has also been shown to support enhanced exercise performance; as a higher volume grasps our attention, directing it away from the difficulty of the exercise we are performing [46]. The role of music in exercise and driving conveys music’s versatility and emphasizes how it can be utilized as a resource to support our ability to conquer daily tasks [3, 44].

Music therapy has been utilized as an accessible and effective sleep aid due to its physical benefits and ability to create a stable auditory environment [32, 47]. Specific attributes of music can enhance the ability to fall asleep and improve overall sleep quality; low, gentle, and calm music is thought to be an effective sleep aid because it reduces heart rate and blood pressure, contributing to overall muscle relaxation [25, 32]. Music that decreases arousal has been implemented as a sleep aid due to its ability to distract people from stressful thoughts, which may limit their ability to fall asleep [32, 47]. Additionally, music mimics the effect of white noise by drowning out external sounds, creating a stable and calm auditory environment and improving sleep [17, 32, 34, 47, 48]. As illustrated by the squeak of the chair moving in a quiet room, auditory changes unconsciously utilize cognitive resources [32]. Music is affordable and accessible, and has been implemented as a treatment for people with insomnia, a condition marked by difficulty sleeping [23, 50, 55].

Applications of music have also extended far beyond sleep aids [51]. Music therapy could benefit people with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), an incurable condition characterized by cognitive decline and memory loss that affects over seven million Americans — a number expected to double by 2050 [51, 52]. Music allows people with AD to learn new melodies, understand words through lyrics, and react emotionally to songs [51]. Through connecting individuals with AD who are experiencing cognitive decline with familiar memories, music therapy can be an effective tool to improve the lives of patients with AD [53]. For example, listening to classical music may help patients with mild AD recall important moments from their past — AD patients who were played the music of Vivaldi were more capable of recalling personal memories than those who were asked to recall memories without Vivaldi playing. Therefore, in some cases, music therapy may boost cognitive performance in patients with AD, potentially improving quality of life [53]. Music has been a staple of human culture for ages, and contemporary applications of music therapy demonstrate its continued relevance in the future as AD and related disorders continue to become more prevalent [49, 50, 51, 52].

Finding the Right Tune

Listening to music is a universal experience that can evoke strong emotions in listeners regardless of what genre they listen to [54]. In fact, arousal arising from listening to music has been associated with improvements in performance on cognitive tasks [3]. While the Mozart Effect overgeneralized the impact of classical music on intelligence, listening to pleasure music can improve our mood and increase our arousal, which can boost our ability to execute various tasks [3, 10]. Additionally, several characteristics of music — such as music volume, tonality, and tempo — must be considered when deciding on the effective background music for different tasks [25, 32, 36, 46]. Music can be implemented to increase task performance when its properties and effects provide the optimal level of energy and focus for a specific task [32, 37]. Folding clothes and doing the dishes are boring tasks, so moderately arousing and uplifting music may improve mood and enhance enjoyment and efficiency [40]. Slow, quiet, and relaxing background music can be utilized when studying and reading to improve mood and arousal while avoiding distraction [3, 37]. As we continue to study music’s capacity to influence our emotional states and support cognition and task performance, it is clear that the applications of music extend far beyond listening pleasure [49, 50].

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