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Back to school is an opportunity to try new learning methods to gain efficiency. If we are to believe the most recent discoveries in cognitive neuroscience, music would have positive effects on memorization. Especially if it is familiar to us, as revealed by an American study published in the journal PLOS One.
The authors of this study claim that music increases our ability to learn new information. They came to this conclusion after conducting an experiment with about forty participants aged 18 to 24. The academics asked them to learn a series of abstract shapes while listening to different pieces of music.We wanted to explore the potential of music as a mnemonic device that helps us remember information more easily.“, explains Yiren Ren, lead author of the study, in a press release.
Yiren Ren played the pieces that the volunteers listened to throughout the experiment on the piano. Some were fairly linear rhythmically, while others had a more complex structure, making them less predictable to the ear. The researchers found that participants had an easier time remembering the pattern sequences when they listened to a melody that their brains could easily anticipate. Pieces with more irregular rhythms had the opposite effect on the acquisition of new information. “Depending on its familiarity and structure, music can help or hinder our memory,” Ren concludes.
The findings of this research echo those ofanother study by Yiren Ren, published in early July in the journal Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, in which we learn that music has the power to emotionally reshape our memories. For example, happy songs can change the valence of our memories, making them more positive.This highlights the malleability of memory in response to music and the powerful role this art can play in altering our past memories.“, Ms. Ren said in the same statement.
These two studies show how music is a powerful brain stimulant, and therefore a real therapeutic ally for people with memory disorders. The fourth art can play a role in consolidating learning. This is why it can be a good idea to listen to music while studying or working. But be careful that it does not distract us too much: the best way to learn new knowledge is to be attentive.
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