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Friday, January 30, 2009

Improving Test Scores with Music


One simple way students can improve test scores is by listening to certain types of music such as Mozart's Sonata for Two Piano's in D Major before taking a test. This type of music releases neurons in the brain which help the body to relax. The effectiveness of Mozart's sonatas can be seen by the results from an IQ test performed on three groups of college students. The first group listened to a Mozart sonata before taking the test. The second group listened to a relaxation tape before their test. The third group did not listen to anything before the test. The first group had the highest score with an average of 119. The second group ended up with an average of 111, and the third group had the lowest score with an average of 110.
William Balach, Kelly Bowman, and Lauri Mohler, all from Pennsylvania State University, studied the effects of music genre and tempo on memory retention. They had four groups learn vocabulary words using one of four instrumental pieces - slow classical, slow jazz, fast classical, and fast jazz. Each of the four groups was divided into smaller groups for the recall test. These sub groups used either the same (i.e. slow classical, slow classical) or different (i.e. slow jazz, fast classical) pieces when taking the recall test. The results did show a dependency on the music. Recall was better when the music was the same during learning and testing. These same researchers did another test which restricted the changes in the music to just tempo (i.e. slow to fast jazz) or just genre (i.e. slow jazz to slow classical). Surprisingly, the results showed that changing the genre had no effect on recall but changing the tempo decreased recall.
for more info, see http://www.cerebromente.org.br/n15/mente/musica.html

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Music and Brain Tumors: a story in the news

Brain cancer survivors find inspiration in CD's healing message Joe Nagy of Derry was losing hope for recovery from a brain tumor when he encountered the healing message of David Bailey’s music. He drew on that strength while facing his second brain surgery, Nagy said Tuesday at Integrative Medical Advisory Council’s announcement of a new music therapy initiative involving Bailey’s music.“We’ve already seen, firsthand, the power that this music bring to those with brain cancer,” council co-founder Barry Ritko said Tuesday during the announcement at Memorial Medical Center in Johnstown.A good friend of Ritko and his wife, Mary Ann, was given one of Bailey’s compact discs after he was no longer able to talk or watch television due to his brain cancer.“It hasn’t affected his ability to find inspiration in lyrics that speak of hope, faith and strength,” Barry Ritko said. The Integrative Medical Advisory Council promotes alternative and complementary therapies to help seriously ill patients survive longer and live better, Ritko said. The council has selected brain cancer as its focus for the year and launched events with Tuesday’s program.Council leaders and Dr. Alfred Bowles, Memorial’s chairman of neuroscience, presented copies of Bailey’s latest CD, “Hope – An Anthology,” to members of the hospital’s brain tumor support group. The council has purchased 100 copies of the CD for area brain tumor patients. With support from Conemaugh Health Foundation, the council also provides children’s yoga classes inDale and massage therapy for seriously ill patients with Conemaugh Region- al Hospice and in Memorial’s pallia-tive care unit.The organization maintains an online directory of specialists in complementary and alternative therapies at www.imacjohnstown.org.Nagy recalled contacting Bailey through an Internet forum for brain cancer survivors. The folk singer is a 12-year survivor and has recorded several CDs of inspirational music.“The first surgery was not a lot of fun,” Nagy said. “The tumor was recurring during the radiation treatment.”Nagy asked Bailey if he should have another craniotomy to remove the new tumor.“He said, ‘You have to, because I should be dead right now, but I’m not. There is nothing working as well as this is’,” Nagy said. “I discovered he’s right.”Nagy is now an 11-year survivor, and like Bailey, he spreads the message: Don’t give up.
By RANDY GRIFFITH The Tribune-Democrat (Johnstown, PA, US)