We have long known that music can play an important role in learning, in fact, learning music stimulates different parts of the brain, in this sense various studies have shown that listening to certain songs and melodies improves the memory of patients with certain types of dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Music can help us better retain information and optimize learning, as sounds can help us get our attention, bring emotions to mind, and stimulate visual images. For example, students of all ages could use this type of help to improve their concentration and strengthen memorization. of the material they’re trying to assimilate.
- One of the great advantages of learning music is that it is possible to choose a specific style for each goal.
- In fact.
- Experts suggest what is the best style to acquire specific knowledge.
This is the right time to make an important difference: studying is not the same as learning, although the goal of study is to learn, not all learning is through study, in fact, although we know that music can play an important role in learning, many experts say that to study the best is silence.
However, music can be a good ally to create a good atmosphere, in this sense it has been discovered that certain melodies can improve certain cognitive skills, such as spatial intelligence, it has also been proven that music can help leave the mind in perfect condition. condition of study.
For example, is it possible to use an “optimistic” melody to motivate learning, especially songs with lyrics that encourage positive thinking. We can also use music to improve our energy level, to concentrate or to relax in moments of rest.
Another very different thing is to use music as a resource to stimulate memory and make memories leave a deeper mark on our memory, so that learning becomes something more sensory and/or interactive, in this sense, a certain type of melody or lyrics can be good allies for parents and teachers.
It also deserves special mention when using music to maintain concentration in situations where it is not possible to remain silent or where it is very difficult to insulate themselves from other noises that make it difficult to concentrate, in fact, many people find it difficult to keep quiet. their attention when there are external noises.
In this regard, researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy University, New York, recently discovered that the inclusion of a natural element can improve mood and concentration.
Thus, the sounds of nature can mask both intelligible speech and white noise, while improving cognitive functioning, optimizing the ability to concentrate. While this study aimed to increase worker productivity, we can somehow generalize their results to reduce concentration problems in the study due to outside noise.
Of particular interest is the learning of additional skills or physical skills, in a new study conducted by a team of researchers from the University of Edinburgh that was recently published in the medical journal Brain
Researchers found that people who practiced basic movements with music had greater structural connectivity between regions of the brain that processed sound and controlled movement.
This is good news, especially for people who have lost some degree of control over their movements, as the study could have positive consequences for future research on the rehabilitation of these individuals.
In this sense, the study suggests that music represents a fundamental difference, according to researchers, music encourages people to move and, in fact, this study provides the first experimental evidence that adding music to learn new motor tasks can lead to changes in the structure of the white substance in the brain.
For the study, the researchers divided the right-handed volunteers into two groups and suggested that they learn a new task, involving sequences of finger movements with the non-dominant hand. One group learned the task with music while the other group performed the task. same task without music.
After four weeks, both groups of volunteers also performed the learning sequences well, however, after analyzing the MRI images of the volunteers, the study revealed that the group that learned music showed a significant increase in structural connectivity in the right side of the brain. while the group that learned without music showed no changes. That is why these researchers hope that future research will determine whether music learning can help with special types of motor rehabilitation programs.