Music May Be the New Drug

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From a paper by Fukui H, and Toyoshima K: Experience has shown that therapy using music for therapeutic purposes has certain effects on neuropsychiatric disorders (both functional and organic disorders). However, the mechanisms of action underlying music therapy remain unknown, Read More …

Researchers Foresee Clinical Applications of the Mozart Effect

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From a study by Shaw GL, and Bodner M: Motivated by predictions from the structured trion model of the cortex, based on Mountcastle’s columnar organizational principle, behavioral experiments have demonstrated a causal short-term enhancement of spatial-temporal reasoning in college students Read More …

Musicians’ Brains Demonstrate Neuroplasticity

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From a review of studies by Jäncke L: Purpose: In this review I summarize and discuss reported findings of structural and functional plasticity in the intact human brain. Methods: The main focus is placed on research that uses musicians as Read More …

Music At Birth Helps the Brain Protect Itself

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From a study by Amagdei A, Balteş FR, Avram J, and Miu AC: Several studies have indicated that the exposure of rodents to music modulates brain development and neuroplasticity, by mechanisms that involve facilitated hippocampal neurogenesis, neurotrophin synthesis and glutamatergic Read More …

Mozart Effect Replicated, Again

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From a study by Rideout BE, Dougherty S, and Wernert L: Previous attempts by various researchers to replicate the enhancement of spatial performance following 10 min. exposure to music have been inconsistent in their findings. In the present study 16 Read More …

Mozart Improves Spatio-Temporal Perfomance with Alzheimer’s

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From a study by Johnson JK, Cotman CW, Tasaki CS, and Shaw GL: Several recent studies have investigated the effectiveness of various behavioral interventions on the cognitive performance of subjects with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Simulations of Shaw’s structured model of Read More …

Music Increases Frontal Brain Wave Coherence

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From a study by Peterson DA, and Thaut MH: Anecdotal and some empirical evidence suggests that music can enhance learning and memory. However, the mechanisms by which music modulates the neural activity associated with learning and memory remain largely unexplored. Read More …

Musicians Have Better Brainstems

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From a study by Wong PC, Skoe E, Russo NM, Dees T, and Kraus N: Music and speech are very cognitively demanding auditory phenomena generally attributed to cortical rather than subcortical circuitry. We examined brainstem encoding of linguistic pitch and Read More …

Sight-reading Enhances Cognitive Function

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From a study by Sluming V, Brooks J, Howard M, Downes JJ, and Roberts N: We provide neurobehavioral evidence supporting the transferable benefit of music training to alter brain function and enhance cognitive performance [emphasis added] in a nonmusical visuospatial Read More …