The Effect of Music on Cognitive Performance: Insight From Neurobiological and Animal Studies

Abstract

The past 50 years have seen numerous claims that music exposure enhances human cognitive performance. Critical evaluation of studies across a variety of contexts, however, reveals important methodological weaknesses. The current article argues that an interdisciplinary approach is required to advance this research. A case is made for the use of appropriate animal models to avoid many confounds associated with human music research. Although such research has validity limitations for humans, reductionist methodology enables a more controlled exploration of music's elementary effects. This article also explores candidate mechanisms for this putative effect. A review of neurobiological evidence from human and comparative animal studies confirms that musical stimuli modify autonomic and neurochemical arousal indices, and may also modify synaptic plasticity. It is proposed that understanding how music affects animals provides a valuable conjunct to human research and may be vital in uncovering how music might be used to enhance cognitive performance.

Prenatal Complex Rhythmic Music Sound Stimulation Facilitates Postnatal Spatial Learning but Transiently Impairs Memory in the Domestic Chick

“…Field et al [2007] have emphasized the role of rhythmicity and ethological relevance of the sounds involved in the memory consolidation. Complex rhythmic sounds, though not ethologically relevant but highly repetitive and metrical and when presented from 10 min before till 20 min after training, are shown to enhance memory retention tested 60 min after training [Rickard et al, 2005;Rickard, 2009]. In the present study, there was an impairment of memory following prenatal music sound stimulation at 24 h posthatch.…”

“…the type of sensory stimulation presented, timing of stimulation and the overall amount of sensory stimulation provided. In 1-to 2-day-old chicks, complex rhythmic sounds that are highly metrical and repeated regularly enhance memory only if given 10 min before or till 20 min after training [Rickard et al, 2005;Rickard, 2009]. Moreover, the facilitation of memory for discriminative learning is demonstrated only with rhythmic and ethologically meaningful calls, whereas rhythmic non-meaningful calls impair retention [Field et al, 2007].…”

The Sound of Silence: Can Imagining Music Improve Spatial Rotation Performance?

“…Listening to music is well known to have beneficial effects on a variety of factors (Cassileth et al, 2003;Rickard et al, 2005;Siedlecki & Good, 2006,) and one of the most publicised has been the mood and arousal effect. Previously known as the 'Mozart effect', it is the interesting phenomenon whereby listening to music (or engaging in any positive activity, Schellenberg, 2005) that one likes improves spatial rotation performance via the mechanism of elevating mood and arousal levels (Nantais & Schellenberg, 1999).…”

The Effects of Baroque Music Exposure on Students During Writing a Narrative Text

“…Many researches have been conducted with focus on the improvement in a range of cognitive tasks. In the case of the effects on cognitive aspect, as has been discussed in Rickard, Toukhsati, and Field (2006), a research done by Abikoff et al (1996) found a significant improvement in arithmetic performance in children with attention deficit disorder during exposure to music relative to silent or speech condition. Other research, also in Rickard, Toukhsati, and Field (2006), done by Thompson, Moulin, Hayre, and Jones (2005), also found that exposure to Vivaldi's Four Seasons (Winter), which is included as Baroque music, improved performance of both healthy older adults and Alzheimer's patients during a category fluency task.…”