Classical music has the power to do many things, such as change your mood or make you feel emotions you never thought existed. Music is a very powerful tool, but does it have the power to make you smarter? The popular question regarding classical music improving your child’s intelligence has been a subject that puzzles most people. The Mozart Effect is a controversial topic that claims anyone who listens to the famous composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, can have significant growth in their intelligence. This case has been widely talked about and can play a convincing role for new mothers looking to educate their kids at an extremely early age. It is said that listening to Mozart can enhance your performance in cognitive thinking, which is also
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So the question recurs of why do mothers still play classical music to their newborn child when there is no correlation to increasing their intelligence? This is due to the fact that music is a mysterious aspect that can also create many sensations and emotions that can only be felt in the context of classical music. A key assumption made by Glen Schellenberg, a psychology professor at University of Toronto, is that “happy-sounding music (that is, music that is perceived to express happiness) induces states of higher arousal and positive affect, whereas sad-sounding music induces states of lower arousal and negative affect. (qtd. in Franco. 870)” This can help babies stay in a calmer state of mind while their brains are still in full development …show more content…
Some areas of the brain include the frontal cortex, motor cortex (both front and back areas), temporal lobe, the auditory cortex, and also includes the spinal cord and peripheral nervous system. Due to the demanding tasks that playing music has on the body, enhancement in intellect can be proven when a child plays an instrument after a year. The Portland Chamber Orchestra wrote an article about what happens when their musicians play their instrument and they stated that “As a musician plays an instrument, motor systems in the brain control the movements needed to produce sound. The sensory information from these movements that come from the fingers, hands and arms is then sent to the brain for processing.” From there, the sound can then be processed by the auditory circuitry, which is known as your ear drum and other parts deep inside. If the musician is reading music on a page, the visual information is sent to the brain for processing so the player can interpret what is actually written on the page. Lastly, the brain can then process an emotional response from playing the music, so the musician can actually feel what they are playing. These smooth, coordinated fine motor movements required to play a musical instrument can predict academic success in areas including reading, math, and verbal abilities. Matthew Tucker, an author and professor at
So the question recurs of why do mothers still play classical music to their newborn child when there is no correlation to increasing their intelligence? This is due to the fact that music is a mysterious aspect that can also create many sensations and emotions that can only be felt in the context of classical music. A key assumption made by Glen Schellenberg, a psychology professor at University of Toronto, is that “happy-sounding music (that is, music that is perceived to express happiness) induces states of higher arousal and positive affect, whereas sad-sounding music induces states of lower arousal and negative affect. (qtd. in Franco. 870)” This can help babies stay in a calmer state of mind while their brains are still in full development …show more content…
Some areas of the brain include the frontal cortex, motor cortex (both front and back areas), temporal lobe, the auditory cortex, and also includes the spinal cord and peripheral nervous system. Due to the demanding tasks that playing music has on the body, enhancement in intellect can be proven when a child plays an instrument after a year. The Portland Chamber Orchestra wrote an article about what happens when their musicians play their instrument and they stated that “As a musician plays an instrument, motor systems in the brain control the movements needed to produce sound. The sensory information from these movements that come from the fingers, hands and arms is then sent to the brain for processing.” From there, the sound can then be processed by the auditory circuitry, which is known as your ear drum and other parts deep inside. If the musician is reading music on a page, the visual information is sent to the brain for processing so the player can interpret what is actually written on the page. Lastly, the brain can then process an emotional response from playing the music, so the musician can actually feel what they are playing. These smooth, coordinated fine motor movements required to play a musical instrument can predict academic success in areas including reading, math, and verbal abilities. Matthew Tucker, an author and professor at