by Alicia Cazares

Many students believe that listening to music can improve your memory which historians call ¨The Mozart Effect.¨ However, why does the music that many students listen to, while they are studying not distract them. Is it due to how many times students listening to their music while studying? There have been many tests conducted based on this phenomenon and the results have been very surprising.

Research conducted before such studies have found that music causes the release of a chemical called dopamine which is often referred as ¨the feel good¨ chemical. This chemical has also been found to promote learning to approach rewards, while a deficiency of dopamine promotes the learning of punishments. The study conducted to prove whether or not music can improve memory took 73 subjects and had them listen to songs that they had a positive feeling towards or felt neutral about, while studying and testing. The results found that people who have more music experience tested better when they listened to neutral songs while studying, but listened to songs they had a positive feeling towards while testing. However the opposite was found true for people who do not have musical training.

Another study found that students who learn an instrument learn more effectively. This study showed that the 40 students who participated in their school’s music program performed better than students who were a part of other school activities such as an athletics program. Musical training has also been found to improve language skills and overall brain development. Other evidence shows that learning an instrument can boost students’ numeracy and literacy skills.

Music also has been found to have several other benefits such as increasing one’s self-esteem, improving one´s communication and interactive skills, can reduce depressive symptoms, and can help students get better grades.