Classical Music Boosts IQ! You Too Can Be an Einstein!!

Oct 15 12:31 UTC 1993

The Los Angeles Times reports that according to recent research at the
Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory at the University of
California, listening to the music of Mozart can result in significant
but short-lived IQ boosts.  Scientists found that 10 minutes of
listening to Mozart's Sonata for Two Pianos in D raised college
students' IQ by up to 9 points.  However, the IQ increase was
temporary, dissipating within 15 minutes.

The researchers theorize that complex classical music enhances abstract
reasoning by reinforcing complex patterns of neural activity, and that
the simple repetitive rhythms of such contemporary music as New Age
jazz and grunge rock may have the opposite effect of obstructing
abstract reasoning.  They also indicate that making music, rather than
just listening to it, may have a more permanent effect on intelligence.
However, the newspaper article doesn't indicate whether they have
experimental evidence for these speculations.

Interesting results, suggesting further research possibilities.
Composers could be ranked according to their IQ enhancement effects.
If the researchers' reasoning is correct, I would expect J.S. Bach to
rank highly also, and Bartok.  But what about the 19th-century
romantics like Schubert, Schumann, Mendelsohn, and Tchaikovsky?  Are
there measureable differences in IQ enhancement effects of composers
who were close contemporaries and wrote in similar styles -- are Haydn
and C.P.E. Bach as good as Mozart?  What about the scale of the work --
is a big symphony as good as chamber music, or worse, or the same?

I'm thinking of installing an IQ Booster Switch underneath my desk.
When I'm trying to solve a particularly tricky logical or programming
problem and seem to be stuck, I'll just hit the booster switch with my
foot and start up a Mozart tape.  That should help.

response 2 of 133:

Oct 15 15:45 UTC 1993

A good question.  Also, does this hold true evern where a harpsichord is
used in the recording?  ;)

response 4 of 133:

Oct 15 17:44 UTC 1993

I presume they measured some kind of problem-solving ability, making many
small measurements over a long period of time.

response 6 of 133:

Oct 15 23:54 UTC 1993

The evidence is pretty clear, isn't it?
(ssf)

response 8 of 133:

Oct 16 03:21 UTC 1993

   I find this extremely weird.  Thats not to say that it couldn't
be real, but I'd like to know how they measured the intelligence
increase beofre and after.
   I think eating certain foods before a test would have a much greater
impact on testing scores, overall.

response 10 of 133:

Oct 16 10:02 UTC 1993

LZ - exactly! Some Marshal Tucker, Alabama, Greatful Dead, ...

response 12 of 133:

Oct 17 23:01 UTC 1993

Probably she spent more time in the room with the classical music,
watered the plants there more often, etc.

response 14 of 133:

Oct 18 05:54 UTC 1993

Re: "I wonder what 'rap' music does to IQs...."

Answer: Imagine drilling a small hole in your forehead, inserting an
        eggbeater, and twirling in around in there for an hour and a half.
        That should give you a rough idea.

response 16 of 133:

Oct 19 02:49 UTC 1993

 Sounds rather "RACIST!" too.

response 18 of 133:

Oct 20 03:11 UTC 1993

Ah.... Warner Brother's physics! Isn't it wonderful!

response 20 of 133:

Oct 30 23:23 UTC 1993

Sounds like Dr. Dre and rogue are a lot alike.  :]

response 22 of 133:

Nov 2 23:47 UTC 1993

  I don't think you've listened to that much hard rap, then, Jemmie... I
find it ***MUCH*** more innovative and interesting than the pop scene--
not that that's saying much (or anything)... :)
  My friend brought over his Easy-E tape this weekend, and listened to it
about 4 times over, so I can say with certainity that it's more than a
drum beat and some offensive, mindless lyrics about sex and violence..
I liked it, myself, although I WAS getting a bit tired of it the fourth time
or so... but then, I can't complain...  I'm the same way, with some of my
music....
  At least the hard rap is saying something: in my experience, the pop
rap/synth tends to be a drum beat and some samples with some mindless lyrics
about nothing at all.... :)

response 24 of 133:

Nov 3 06:50 UTC 1993

  Hoolie, you're only being so obnoxious because the 'urban youth' in question
are primarily black.  There have been some less-than-perfect role models
for white youth, at times in the past, notably the 60s... yet Jim Morrison
is now a hero, to many, though the lyrics tend to be drunken ramblings, and
some of them are rather pro-drug/sex/what-have-you... not to say that I
don't like the Doors, I do.  I think that popular music and the pop-music
culture have always had a message that has been frowned upon by the more
conservative in society--the Jazz Age, the 60's, and now are good examples...
To expect 'urban youth' (your euphemism for black youth) to listen to
church hymns isn't any more realistic to expect the same of white youth.
  How do you feel about the grunge movement, then, Hoolie?  I see you
frequently spouting off in a tongue-in-cheek way about rap, etc--I've never
seen you mention grunge.  Yet, Nirvana, really a very mainstreamed group,
comes out with songs like 'Rape Me', etc (did they really cut 'Moist Vagina'?)
, has a singer who was and/or is a heroin addict, and so forth.  Is this
any more a positive message for urban youth (using the more general term)
--such as myself?
  The music is not the problem, though it might reflect the culture of the
inner city, to an extent.  Btw, Hoolie, have you ever listened to any of this
music for an extended period of time?  You are very quick to condemn it--have
you experienced it enough to have the right to do this?