The Mozart Effect refers to the idea that listening to Mozart’s music can temporarily improve mental performance, especially when used as background for focused activities.

Evidence specifically links Mozart’s music to enhancements in spatial reasoning tasks, which is the core claim of the Mozart Effect.

The phenomenon was popularized by Francis Rauscher’s 1995 findings suggesting a connection between classical music exposure and cognitive development.

Recent work reports small performance gains in some domains, including a study showing a 6% improvement in working memory after music exposure, and broader observations that music listening can exercise brain regions and increase gray matter.

At the same time, several studies and reviews find no reliable beneficial effect from listening to Mozart on learning outcomes, arguing that earlier positive reports may reflect selective reporting and small samples rather than a robust effect.

Research also indicates that background classical music does not reliably help learning, and that individual differences (preferences, sensitivity, and task demands) strongly modulate whether music helps or hinders cognition.

Tempo and arousal matter for task performance: slow-tempo music has been found to reduce processing speed and overall task performance but improve linguistic processing accuracy, while fast tempo showed no processing-speed benefit in one study.

Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major (K. 448) sits around 132 BPM, within a 120–140 BPM range that aligns with innate beat synchronization observed in animal models, suggesting a natural tempo that may facilitate entrainment without proving cognitive gains.

Some mechanistic and health-adjacent findings exist outside of spatial cognition, including reports that Mozart’s music can reduce epileptic seizure activity and lower heart rate and blood pressure, although other analyses dispute consistent benefits for epilepsy and cognition.

A University of Vienna analysis concluded there is no proven effect of Mozart’s music on epilepsy symptoms or mental benefits, underscoring the mixed and often inconclusive evidence base.

Music training shows more consistent cognitive links than passive listening, with studies indicating shared brain components for visual and musical memory and improvements in visual working memory through musical memory.

Beyond listening, piano lessons have been associated with enhanced information processing, improved mood, and reduced depression, anxiety, and stress, suggesting broader, training-based cognitive and emotional benefits.

For classroom practice, the evidence advises caution with background music because effects vary widely across students and tasks, and benefits are not guaranteed.

When teachers do use background music, instrumental tracks without lyrics, familiar pieces, and smooth (less dramatic) piano works are less likely to interfere with concentration.

Emerging guidance suggests that “soft-fast” music can support learning, whereas loud-fast, soft-slow, and loud-slow music can hinder it.

There are no established classroom guidelines for volume levels or timing for Mozart’s music, and available studies (e.g., with newborns) do not specify classroom-appropriate parameters.

A study with newborns did use a structured schedule—20 minutes before and during a blood draw and five minutes after—and found reduced pain, but this protocol does not translate directly into classroom timing or volume recommendations.

If the instructional goal is academic performance rather than mood regulation, integrating music more actively into lessons shows clearer benefits than passive listening, especially in mathematics.

Meta-analytic summaries indicate that 73% of students in integrated math-and-music interventions perform better in math, with regular music lessons helping 58% of students and instrumental learning improving math for 69% of students, particularly on basic concepts and in younger grades.

Music integration programs such as On-Ramp, which weave music into math and language curricula, have been linked to improved academic achievement and social-emotional learning.

Overall, the most defensible synthesis is that passive listening to Mozart, including K. 448, yields at best small and inconsistent short-term cognitive benefits with mixed replication, while individual differences and task characteristics strongly shape outcomes.

Current research agendas focus on identifying who benefits from music during cognitive tasks and on measuring brain activation during music-cognition interactions, reflecting a shift toward individualized and mechanistic accounts.

For elementary classrooms, the strongest data-driven approach is to prioritize structured music education and music-integrated instruction for academic gains, and to use background Mozart judiciously, tailored to student preferences and task demands.

The Mozart Effect refers to the idea that listening to Mozart’s music can temporarily improve mental performance, especially when used as background for focused activities.

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The Sound of Success: Ideas in Music for Concentration and Productivity

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Does music help you concentrate? Since we spend a lot of time in front of computers trying to finish our work, wouldn’t it be nice to listen to some of music to help concentrate? Well, music lovers, it seems like Mozart and Beethoven could actually help you with your productivity. Beethoven once said: «Music is where the spirit lives, thinks and invents.»

This relationship between music and the brain is an area that has been intensively explored in research. Many studies point to the ability of music to help employees be more productive and help children in their learning process more effectively. University research in France found that students who listened to music for an hour while reading, scored significantly higher on a questionnaire compared to a group of students who read without music.

Your attention span is better when listening to music

It seems that music for concentration puts students in a heightened emotional state, so that they can be more receptive to information. «It is possible that music causes a change in the learning environment and influenced students’ motivation to stay focused while reading, which led to better performance on a multiple-choice questionnaire,» concluded the french research team in a recent article.

But before you start playing any type, you have to find the music that works better for the type of work you are trying to carry do. For example, the classic from the Baroque period is said to do wonders for brain activity when you are studying or writing. But not all classical music is created equal, so dramatic changes and complicated fugue changes may not be as conducive as a smooth piano piece. So if you have to choose a composer, we would say Mozart. There seems to be evidence that Mozart’s improves mental performance: it is called «The Mozart Effect”.

Build a harmonious space

If you don’t like classical, the discreet sound found in ambient music may work well for you instead. What is the purpose of this if you are not at the airport, you ask? Well, for creative purposes, it’s better than emptiness and silence. According to one of its pioneers, musician Brian Eno: “Background music must be able to accommodate many levels of attention when listening, without forcing one in particular. It must be as ignorable as it is interesting ”.

In fact, researchers have shown that a moderate level of noise, such as that found in the environment, can actually get creative juices flowing. Music with especially low-lows or especially high-highs should be avoided. Certain types of jazz instrumental melodies can also get your brain working.

Music without lyrics

In general, if you are doing work that requires writing, you should avoid listening to music with lyrics as the words in a song are especially destructive to your concentration. Since hearing words activates the brain’s language center, attempting to perform tasks related to another language would be like trying to have a conversation while someone else is speaking to you. But, if you are a cartoonist, and you don’t deal with sentence construction, hearing letters may not have the same effect.

Finally, studies show that listening to music you’re already familiar with may be better if you really need to focus. New songs take you into the unknown and your brain will want to listen closely to see what comes next. With the music you are familiar with you know what to expect, so it doesn’t distract you from your work. And if you like the tune you’re listening to try not to whistle it while you work, as that will only distract you.

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Evidence specifically links Mozart’s music to enhancements in spatial reasoning tasks, which is the core claim of the Mozart Effect.

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Is everyone's head good at math?
What's wrong with learning?
2024 / 6 / 9 13: 35: 14 Source: Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences Author: ELIZABETH LANDAU Editor: Mengze
Mathematics frightens a lot of people, but we are naturally sensitive to numbers.
Ken Ono, chair of the Department of Mathematics at the University of Virginia, was excited when he talked about a formula containing the pi, which is a magic number, the ratio of circumference to diameter.
He showed me a clip from National Geographic in which Neil DeGrasse Tyson asked him how to convey the beauty of mathematics to ordinary people on the street.
In response, Ono showed Tyson and I a cascading fraction of the Pi, that is, the numerator is 1, the denominator contains a numerator of 1, the denominator of this numerator also contains a numerator of 1, and so on, endless.
Write it out, this formula looks like a staircase, which will gradually narrow as you follow its steps.
This formula was independently completed by the British mathematician Leonard Jay Rogers and the self-taught Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan and does not involve any more complex calculations than addition, division and squares.
"How can I not say it's amazing?" Ono told me.
We should reprogram mathematics education so that it promotes, rather than diminishes, the desire to learn mathematics.
As a Pi enthusiast – I ’ m known among friends for hosting Pi Day parties – I have to agree with him that this is a dizzying formula.
But not everyone can see beauty in scores or maths.
In fact, math tends to feel more fear than awe in the United States. In the 1950s, some educators began to observe a phenomenon in students that they called math phobia, though it was just one of many long lists of learning phobias they saw in students.
A 2020 study from Stanford University and the University of Chicago showed that math anxiety appears to be associated with a decline in math scores worldwide.
While there are still many questions about its root cause, high school math scores in the United States tend to be significantly lower than in many other countries.
For example, in the 2018 International Student Assessment Project (PISA) exam, American students ranked 30th in the world for math scores.
Some scholars believe that the American culture is full of negative stereotypes about mathematics, coupled with the current mathematics teaching methods, these have led to long-term anxiety, so that some children think that they are not good at mathematics and can not achieve excellent results.
Research shows that humans are born with a sensitivity to numbers, or “sense of numbers. ”
The concept of numbers is one of the only advanced cognitive functions mapped to a specific area of the brain.
In other words, we ’ re born to do basic math, and it ’ s just culture that ’ s holding us back.
Recent neuroscience, behavioral, and cognitive research can help us redesign math education so that it supports, rather than disrupts, learning, and even inspires a love of the mystical beauty of mathematics in the process.
"Mathematics" has a profound impact on a wide range of subjects, from basic arithmetic to algebra to topology.
But at the most basic level, research shows that each of us is born with a sense of quantity.
Human infants can understand this concept as early as 6 months of age, when they have not yet had extensive exposure to human culture or language.
This pre-verbal sense of numbers is considered to be the cornerstone of mathematical ability in later childhood and adulthood.
In one study, researchers found that 3-year-olds who had a strong sense of numbers as infants scored significantly higher on math scores even when they controlled for general intelligence. In 2013, Joonkoo Park and psychologist Elizabeth Brannon of Duke University found that students could improve their math skills by training to stimulate their quantitative estimation.
This ability to estimate and understand numbers may have evolved as a basic survival skill.
For example, it can help our ancestors and members of other species quickly determine whether the number of predators exceeds their own, or forage in places with more food than other species.
Andreas Nieder of the University of Tübingen in Germany, who has studied the digital perception of multiple species, believes that in species such as monkeys, birds and insects, which are far apart on the evolutionary tree, the digital perception system has evolved independently in parallel.
Pigeons can be trained to peck on boards a certain number of times.
Dolphins seem to be able to understand the digital concept of “less, ” while research shows that bees are able to grasp the concept of“ zero. ”
However, scientists seem to agree that only humans can accurately represent numbers with symbols, and that education is needed to do so.
This may be because many advanced mathematical skills, including arithmetic, rely on the use of language, only among which quantitation-based judgments are pre-linguistic.
In fact, without language, arithmetic is difficult to carry out and is difficult to complete.
For example, a 2004 study that surveyed users of the Amazonian language Munduruku, which has no vocabulary for numbers greater than 5, found that users of Munduruku did not do well with accurate arithmetic for numbers greater than 4 or 5. A 2013 study published in the journal Trends in Neuroscience and Education Comparing the relative mathematical abilities of educated and uneducated Western adults, they found significant differences in their ability to estimate large numbers.
If we are born with the ability to understand mathematics and acknowledge the importance of mathematics in understanding the world, then why are so many people – mainly in Western cultures – so disgusted with mathematics?
Perhaps this has something to do with the way Westerners tend to conceptualize mathematical abilities.
They often say “I ’ m bad at math ” as if it ’ s a personality trait or even a badge of honor.
Jordan Ellenberg, a professor of mathematics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said: “I think people have more fixed patterns of thinking about mathematics than other disciplines, as if they ’ re ‘ turning the knob to a set value, ’ which is a very bad misconception. ”
Of course, some children do have clinical learning disabilities, but this is not caused by anxiety, cultural myths or improper teaching.
Developmental computing disorders refer to learning disabilities associated with mathematics, which account for approximately 3 to 7 per cent of the population.
Developmental Computational Disorder is a lesser-known symptom that corresponds to dyslexia, a learning disorder associated with reading, and the two symptoms often occur simultaneously.
However, thinking that you are not good at mathematics may become a word.
Evidence suggests that the cultural assumption that women are less competent in mathematics than men may be the main reason for the gender gap in math achievement.
Racial stereotypes can also affect math performance.
Professor Ebony McGee of Vanderbilt University has spent more than a decade studying systemic racism.
In her book, she notes that black, Native, and Latino students often have experiences of being “isolated or positioned as impostors, ” as well as other racialized biases that drain their energy.
Math anxiety can also be transmitted to children from teachers and parents.
In a 2017 study, the authors wrote, “Evidence from the United States suggests that children who interact with adults with high levels of math anxiety are affected in their math scores relative to their peers. ”
Jo Boaler of Stanford University and colleagues, who are developing an online resource for parents called Struggly, argue that children should be rewarded for working hard and taking the time to understand mathematical concepts, not just when they give the right answers. “Neuroscience clearly shows that everyone is growing up, and no one can suddenly become gifted, ” Boaler said.
A key question that math educators have long faced is how to balance the parts of the classroom that children typically fear the most: memory and repetition, while teaching basic concepts and promoting deep understanding.
Bühler and colleagues advocate reforming the California Mathematical Framework (a set of teaching standards parallel to the Common Core curriculum) to reduce mathematical concepts to “big concepts ” that are relevant to life.
For example, third-graders can learn concepts such as fractions and polygons based on the shape of floor tiles, which are usually taught separately.
"By combining mathematical concepts with life, teachers can focus on less content, but the links between these will be stronger," she said.
Bühler didn ’ t like timed memory exercises, which she thought would lead to mathematical anxiety.
She said that while mathematical facts like 7 times 8 equals 56 are important, teaching that emphasizes its meaning and contextual relevance best helps students learn that knowledge.
Mathematics and music correlate in common brain regions
Barbara Oakley makes the opposite point: she believes that, ultimately, learning math is more like learning language or music.
Not like other forms of learning.
In a personal essay, she recounted how she began studying mathematics and became a mathematician in her later years.
She wrote in the article that repetition and memory are essential, and if you focus only on understanding concepts and ignore rote exercises, it may affect mathematical learning.
It may seem like a debate, but it ’ s not – no course will be purely conceptual driven or purely memory-driven.
Everyone needs to understand concepts and practice using them.
In fact, in the mathematics assessment of the PISA International Student Assessment program, students who learn math by rote alone have consistently underperformed those who focus on understanding the relationship between concepts.
One approach that might combine concepts with practice is called the “chunking method. ”
In his book, Oakley writes: “This approach is to divide the material you need to learn into ‘ chunks ’, ‘ chunks ’ that are ‘ pieces of information held together by meaning. ’ ”
The idea of this approach is that by breaking down large problems, concepts, or processes, you can concentrate on solving the various components in a digestible way.
In interviews, Oakley often cited reversing as an example.
If you ’ ve never driven a car before, you need to think about the entire sequence of reversing: looking in the rearview mirror, checking for blind spots, hanging the reverse, turning the steering wheel, and so on.
However, once you frequently reverse the car, reversing becomes second nature to you and you won ’ t even think about the steps.
The same applies to any mathematical principle you try to learn.
She outlines three steps to block learning: focus on one part, understand the underlying thinking behind that part, and look at its context.
When you memorize and thoroughly practice each chunk of information, you can integrate them into larger chunks of information that are conceptually connected
In Ireland, Flávia Santos ’ team has been exploring how to use the interconnection between mathematics and music to help children with computational disabilities.
Neuroscience research supports the idea that there is a correlation between math and music in the brain regions activated in related activities.
Santos pointed out that mathematics and music are essentially systems with symbols.
While we can ’ t prove that proficiency in one skill leads to excellence in another, scores, ratios, and pattern recognition are important for both.
Therefore, Santos believes that music training may also be good for math learning.
Research shows that music can enhance the ability of space-time reasoning, and this ability of space-time reasoning can help the learning of mathematical concepts.
So far, although only small groups have been observed, the results are promising.
For example, in a 2020 study published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, Santos ’ team reported that in a small sample in Brazil, training involving singing, percussion and gymnastics was positively correlated with scores on math tests.
At the end of the day, each child has its own unique needs, and parents can work with teachers to find ways to suit their child.
However, in general, parents can cultivate their children ’ s love of mathematics by avoiding sharing their math anxiety with their children and encouraging their children to solve problems creatively.
"Never say 'I'm bad at math' or 'I hate math' to your child, but try to get involved and help them think of math as an interesting puzzle," Bühler said.
Written by Elizabeth Landau
Translated by: Xiao Cong
Reviser ： Yue Yue
Are All Brains Good at Math?
This article is from the WeChat public account: Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ID: cas-iop), author: ELIZABETH LANDAU
Advertisement Statement: The external redirect links contained in the text (including not limited to hyperlinks, QR codes, passwords, etc.) are used to convey more information and save selection time. The results are for reference only. All articles of IT House contain this statement.
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The phenomenon was popularized by Francis Rauscher’s 1995 findings suggesting a connection between classical music exposure and cognitive development.

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The first and most obvious advice that experts give is to read more.
It is desirable not a tape in social networks, but serious literature, in which there are complex constructions, and rare words, and detailed sentences.
In second place in the ranking of doping for the brain - listening to classical music.
In 1995, psychologist Francis Rauscher experimentally found that Mozart ’ s works contribute to the development of intellectual abilities.
Researchers also recommend training your memory.
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Recent work reports small performance gains in some domains, including a study showing a 6% improvement in working memory after music exposure, and broader observations that music listening can exercise brain regions and increase gray matter.

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Content: Thursday 27-04-2023
Study: Playing and hearing music slows down brain aging
A new study has found that playing and listening to music helps slow the deterioration of cognitive function in older adults, as music increased gray matter in the brain and raised its flexibility, but did not stop atrophy due to aging.
The study, conducted at the University of Geneva, lasted six months, playing music five days a week for 30 minutes.
The results were published by Medical News Today.
The study showed a 6% improvement in the working memory of participants in cognitive tests.
The researchers attributed this to an increase in the cerebellum, the region associated with working memory.
A total of 132 participants aged 62 to 78 participated in the experiment.
None of them had a similar rate of musical training in their lives.
They were all in good physical and mental health and did not rely on hearing aids.
They underwent MRI brain scans and measured the level of memory before and after the experiment.
The study found that multimedia activities, including listening to music, provide the necessary exercises for multiple brain regions to increase flexibility that reorganize the connections and pathways of neurons in the brain.
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At the same time, several studies and reviews find no reliable beneficial effect from listening to Mozart on learning outcomes, arguing that earlier positive reports may reflect selective reporting and small samples rather than a robust effect.

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Scientists have dispelled the myth that Mozart ’ s music helps with epilepsy
Scientists from the University of Vienna have dispelled the myth that Mozart ’ s major sonata KV448 can alleviate the symptoms of epilepsy.
The results of the study are presented in the journal Scientific Reports.
According to the authors of the work, they could not find evidence of the above theory.
In the past, it was believed that Mozart ’ s music had many positive effects on a person, for example, it increases the intelligence of the fetus if a pregnant woman listened to it.
Recently, a number of studies have shown that KV448 sonata alleviates symptoms in patients with epilepsy.
In their work, scientists analyzed these studies, as well as other scientific literature.
As it turned out, there is no reliable evidence of the beneficial effect of the melody.
According to the authors, erroneous results could have been obtained due to selective reporting and small samples.
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Research also indicates that background classical music does not reliably help learning, and that individual differences (preferences, sensitivity, and task demands) strongly modulate whether music helps or hinders cognition.

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Content: 4/25/23 · Research

The beneficial effects of music on memory may depend on how it is listened to

The initial results of the study of the 'Mozart effect' on neurodegeneration show that listening to classical music in the background has no benefits for learning
The research has been carried out with people experiencing mild cognitive impairment, and it did find individual differences when listening to 'high-arousal' music

Listening to 'high-arousal' music could have a positive effect on memory for people who are accustomed to using music as an emotional regulator (Image: Clem Onojeghuo, Unsplash)

Given the lack of effective treatments to counteract cognitive impairment, background music has traditionally been proposed as a possible therapeutic alternative for improving memory-related tasks. Its effect has long been the focus of debate, but this relationship has now been found to be possibly determined by new interindividual parameters, which means that it may be more complex than was previously thought. This is shown by research led by Marco Calabria, a researcher in the Cognitive Neurolab group of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), who is now considering new experiments.

The initial results of the Mozart effect and memory in patients with cognitive impairment (MEM-COG) study, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, suggest that listening to background classical music while performing memory tasks neither improves nor impairs learning levels among people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). However, listening to more 'high-arousal' music was found to have a possible positive effect on people who are accustomed to using music as an emotional regulator in their everyday lives, which suggests there is potential for further hypotheses and research.

The study, which has been published as open access in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, was carried out with patients at the neuropsychology unit of Barcelona's Hospital de Sant Pau, and involved researchers at the hospital, Montreal's Concordia University and Madrid's Gregorio Marañón Health Research Institute.

There is no universal effect

"We found no general impact concerning the effect of music in terms of whether it had positive or negative effects on learning in cases of MCI, but we did find that it would be modulated for each individual. If people regularly use music as an emotional regulator in their daily life, such as to help them remain calm or for company, they will find it easier to obtain further benefits from music when they have to learn something new," explained Calabria, who has a PhD in Psychobiology.

The subjects of the study were people with mild amnestic cognitive impairment, i.e. they have memory problems as a result of an onset of neurodegeneration that is more specific in the parts of the brain dealing with aspects of learning and memory. The experiments consisted of observing 24 photographs of human faces. Participants were instructed to memorize them, and 10 minutes later, they were asked to look at a new series containing the previous 24 images and 24 new ones, in order to attempt to identify the ones that they had already seen.

A classical choice

The first test was performed with the subjects listening to classical music in the information consolidation phase but not in the recovery phase, while in the second exercise it was repeated with the auditory stimulus during both phases. However, no significant differences were observed in terms of results.

Classical music was used in these exercises because "it's a type of music that falls between relaxing and arousing, and has proven to be the most effective for enhancing memory". Furthermore, the fact that it is instrumental reduces the interference (that can come from lyrics) with the content that the participants have to learn in the memory task.

A ray of light

However, Calabria's team wanted to carry out a third experiment using popular music which was considered arousing rather than relaxing, and after a preliminary study, they used an instrumental version of Un rayo de sol (A ray of light), by the group Los Diablos. In that experiment, according to Calabria, the results suggested that "the use of music as a strategy for mood regulation is associated with better performance in memory tasks."

Ongoing research

This finding opens up the possibility of further research to continue exploring the role of interindividual preferences and attitudes towards music among patients with MCI. The group plans to continue the project until late 2024.

During this time, it will investigate whether background music could be more useful in other cognitive domains, such as in attention and concentration in patients with Parkinson's disease. The experiments will also involve the use of a new infrared spectroscopy device in the Neuro Lab, one of the recently opened new laboratories at the UOC, which will show the activation at the cerebral level while cognitive processes are taking place. This will help to determine whether or not there are any alterations in the brain's modulation, in which areas this takes place, and whether it depends on the type of person studied, regardless of the level of response to music.

In overall terms, this will help to find a type of marker which determines the people most likely to benefit from music in cognitive tasks. "The more we know about how background music shapes cognitive processes, the better the use we can make of music as a therapeutic tool in cognitive stimulation," concluded Calabria, an expert in the study of cognitive processes and a member of teaching staff on the UOC's Master's Degree in Neuropsychology.

This research project receives funding from the Ministry of Science and Innovation of the Government of Spain, and contributes to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 3, Good health and well-being.

Reference article:

Calabria, Marco et al. 'Background Music and Memory in Mild Cognitive Impairment: The Role of Interindividual Differences'. 1 Jan. 2023: 815 – 829. DOI: 10.3233/JAD-221051

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Tempo and arousal matter for task performance: slow-tempo music has been found to reduce processing speed and overall task performance but improve linguistic processing accuracy, while fast tempo showed no processing-speed benefit in one study.

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Journal Article

Citation

Lin HM, Kuo SH, Mai TP. Front. Psychol. 2023; 14: e998460.

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(Copyright © 2023, Frontiers Research Foundation)

DOI

10.3389/fpsyg.2023.998460

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36910785

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PMC9998681

Abstract

The effects of musical tempo on cognitive processing speed were investigated, and the mediating effect of arousal was empirically tested. In an experiment, participants were divided into fast tempo, slow tempo, and no-music groups and completed three cognitive processing speed tests measuring motor speed, visuospatial processing speed, and linguistic processing speed. The results indicated a significant effect of musical tempo on processing speed and task performance in all three tasks. The slow-tempo group exhibited slower processing speed and worse performance than the no-music group in all three tasks. The fast tempo group displayed no significant difference in processing speed or performance compared with the no-music group. In the linguistic processing task, those who listened to slow-tempo music had better accuracy than those in the other conditions. Arousal did not mediate the relationship between musical tempo and cognitive processing speed.

Language: en

Keywords

arousal; accuracy; cognitive processing speed; musical tempo; task performance

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Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major (K. 448) sits around 132 BPM, within a 120–140 BPM range that aligns with innate beat synchronization observed in animal models, suggesting a natural tempo that may facilitate entrainment without proving cognitive gains.

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Rats have more rhythm than you think

By Sheroog Kubur, November 30 2022

Musicians have long sung about the power of music — we’re either slaves to it, losing control or just can’t fight the feeling to get up and dance. Keeping rhythm has been thought to be an exclusively human trait until recently, when a study in Tokyo, Japan discovered that rats are able to keep rhythm as well.

“Rats displayed innate — that is, without any training or prior exposure to music — beat synchronization most distinctly within 120–140 BPM (beats per minute),” said University of Tokyo associate professor Hirokazu Takahashi.

Keeping rhythm is something that had long been considered only a human trait because of the complex motor functions that go into the movements. It involves the speed that the brain is able to respond to something. While there are videos of animals dancing along to songs, like popular videos of birds moving along to the rhythm, this is more likely a case of being trained to respond to the beat than having innate beat synchronization.

Beat synchronization refers to how well we are able to keep in time with a musical beat. The study was conducted at the University of Tokyo and connected 10 rats to wireless, miniature accelerometers to measure their head movements. A one-minute clip of Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major was played at four different tempos, ranging from 75 per cent to 400 per cent of the original song. Twenty humans also participated in the study for comparison.

The song was played at various tempos on the assumption that, because rats already operate at a faster pace in terms of heartbeat and other body functions, they may prefer faster tempos.

However, the results of the study found that rats, much like humans, prefer a tempo of 120-140 BPM. This preference was also observed in the human participants. Mozart’s composition fell within this range at roughly 132 BPM.

“Our results suggest that the optimal tempo for beat synchronization depends on the time constant in the brain,” said Takahashi.

The study also included other pop songs like “Born This Way” by Lady Gaga and “Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen. Beat synchronization in non-human mammals was previously thought to be reactive — akin to jumping to a sudden noise — instead of predictive like in humans. The study suggests that beat synchronicity in rats isn’t purely reactive because of the change in movements alongside the changes in tempos.

“To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on innate beat synchronization in animals that was not achieved through training or musical exposure,” said Takahashi.

This isn’t the first time researchers have looked into the dancing capabilities of animals. Previous research into beat synchronization focused primarily on primates. In 2014, a group of researchers at the University of North Carolina found out that bonobos, a species that shares 98.7 per cent of their DNA with humans, were able to match the beat of drumming scientists with their own drumming. A 2013 study found that chimpanzees also display the ability to synchronize their movements with a beat as well. Researchers at the University of California found that the California sea lion is also able to bob its head along to a rhythm. In October of this year, a team discovered that harbour seals are also able to keep track of different rhythms.

The Tokyo research team plans on looking further into the effects of music and harmony on the human brain. Takahashi has expressed interest in music as it leads to a happier life and mechanisms that create cultural centres in the brain such as art and music.

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Some mechanistic and health-adjacent findings exist outside of spatial cognition, including reports that Mozart’s music can reduce epileptic seizure activity and lower heart rate and blood pressure, although other analyses dispute consistent benefits for epilepsy and cognition.

Title:

Content: Mozart music reduces epileptic seizure activity
Scientists have found that thanks to the music of Mozart in people with epilepsy, the epileptic activity of the brain decreases.
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A University of Vienna analysis concluded there is no proven effect of Mozart’s music on epilepsy symptoms or mental benefits, underscoring the mixed and often inconclusive evidence base.

Music training shows more consistent cognitive links than passive listening, with studies indicating shared brain components for visual and musical memory and improvements in visual working memory through musical memory.

Title:

Content: Finding New Links Between Music Training and Cognitive Ability
Science and Technology
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Researchers have discovered that music training affects visual working memory, and a study found that areas of the brain may share a common component that affects both visual and musical working memory.
A research team from several universities around the world has asked whether music can improve cognitive abilities, and new scientific methods have been used to try to find the answer.
The research was led by scientists from the University of Music, Theatre and Media in Hanover, Germany, Goldsmith University in London, UK, Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, the Max Planck Institute for Experimental Aesthetics (MPIEA) in Frankfurt and the University of Cambridge, UK, and the results of their study have just been published in the journal Music Perception.
Working memory is one of the crucial components of all cognitive faculties, the ability to retain information in an individual ’ s memory and make use of it without external aids, such as pen and paper.
According to research, it is still unclear whether working memory has the same function for all regions.
The brain or if it varies from one to the other, that is, whether the areas and abilities the brain uses for music, images, language, and math are the same or different.
In their study, the scientists examined a total of 148 people, through six different tests, comparing the musical and visual work memories of the research participants with their level of musical training.
Previous studies of the relationship between musical training and general cognitive abilities have tended to ignore musical memory, says lead author Peter Harrison: “What we have done is investigate these three factors using a ‘ causal modelling ’ approach, a relatively new scientific method that makes it possible to identify causal relationships under specific circumstances. ”
The results show that if musical training affects visual working memory, it does so through the "inflection" of musical working memory, in other words through its core benefits of musical working memory, musical training can have a positive effect on visual working memory as well.
The results show that if musical training affects visual working memory, it does so through the "inflection" of musical working memory.
Image in the public domain
The study showed that generally strong working memory may make musical training easier.
The team ’ s findings suggest that brain regions share a common component that affects both visual and musical working memory, yet it seems unlikely that there is a direct causal link between music training and general cognitive faculties.
Additional long-term studies comparing individuals with and without musical training in terms of their development of musical and cognitive abilities may further support these findings.
Source: Neuroscience
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Beyond listening, piano lessons have been associated with enhanced information processing, improved mood, and reduced depression, anxiety, and stress, suggesting broader, training-based cognitive and emotional benefits.

Title:

Content: Scientists from the University of Bath have discovered the effect of playing the piano on cognitive abilities.
It turned out that classes on this musical instrument contribute to improving the processing of information by the brain and raise mood.
The findings of the work are reported in the journal Scientific Reports, reports Day.Az with reference to Gazeta.ru.
During the study, the researchers followed 31 adult participants for 11 weeks, who were divided into two groups: the first was engaged in music, and the second only listened to it.
The subjects in the first group were taught to play the piano for only one hour a week, and previously they had no musical experience.
Volunteers from the second group at this time listened to music or used it for homework.
The authors noticed that a few weeks after the start of the experiment, people ’ s ability to process multisensory information (visual and audio) improved significantly.
In practice, this is useful for almost any type of activity, from driving a car to finding someone in a crowd or watching TV.
Thanks to music education, audiovisual processing of information has become more accurate in performing other tasks.
Those who received piano lessons performed better in appropriate trials, in which they were asked to determine whether sound and visual "events" occurred simultaneously.
In addition, such participants had reduced manifestations of depression, anxiety and stress.
Experts believe that music classes can be useful for people with mental disorders, so in the future they plan to conduct more research on this topic.

For classroom practice, the evidence advises caution with background music because effects vary widely across students and tasks, and benefits are not guaranteed.

When teachers do use background music, instrumental tracks without lyrics, familiar pieces, and smooth (less dramatic) piano works are less likely to interfere with concentration.

Emerging guidance suggests that “soft-fast” music can support learning, whereas loud-fast, soft-slow, and loud-slow music can hinder it.

Title:

Content: news

Here's the No. 1 Type of Music for Focus and Concentration, Says Harvard Brain Expert—and It's Not Classical

Music isn't just for entertainment. Having it on in the background can help you focus better, even if you struggle with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

But with music and people being so diverse, how do you decide which is best for you? Researchers have found that when it comes to boosting brainpower, there is no one-fits-all genre.

It entirely depends on the individual and what they respond to. I have many favorites — hip-hop, rap, pop, country, folk, classical, opera. So it's not about genre for me.

As a musician and Harvard neuroscientist, I've found that "familiar music," or songs that you enjoy and know best, are the most effective for maximizing concentration.

Fine-tuning my playlist for optimal focus

A 2018 study found that familiar music activates many of the brain regions responsible for movement, so the focus is "full-bodied."

This means that I can sing along and feel a learned rhythm in my body. Because I've heard the song before, I have the pleasure of anticipating what's next.

When I need to focus, familiar music helps me both relieve stress and connect with the emotions I need in order to be fully present.

For example:

One thing I pay attention to is whether I'm "over" the music. Several studies have shown that your listening pleasure follows a U-shaped curve. First it increases, but after a while, once your brain gets used to it, the returns are diminishing.

Another group of researchers found that the type of music that most positively influences learning is "soft-fast," songs like Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours" or "Love on Top" by Beyoncé.

"Loud-fast," "soft-slow" and "loud-slow" music tended to hinder learning. Instrumental music can also be less disruptive than music with lyrics.

How familiar music affects your brain

There are many ways that music can impact the brain's ability to focus. One mechanism involves decreasing stress and cortisol, which allows the brain's attention center to operate without interruption.

In the brain, the focus centers are directly connected to the regions that process emotion, so any music that makes you more emotionally volatile could disrupt your concentration.

On the flip side, when you suppress your feelings, negative emotions just linger in your brain. And try as you might, you'll lose the capacity to focus. So, if music helps you to connect with your emotions, it can help you think more clearly, too.

Srini Pillay, M.D., is a Harvard psychiatrist and brain researcher, chief medical officer and co-founder of Reulay, CEO of NeuroBusiness Group, and the author of "Tinker Dabble Doodle Try: Unlock the Power of the Unfocused Mind." Follow him on Twitter @srinipillay and on Instagram @drsrinipillay.

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There are no established classroom guidelines for volume levels or timing for Mozart’s music, and available studies (e.g., with newborns) do not specify classroom-appropriate parameters.

Title:

Content: People 's Network > > Education
In addition to treatment, these factors make it difficult for rural schools to retain young teachers
August 20, 2021 08: 35 | Source: China Youth Daily
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In addition to treatment, these factors make it difficult for rural schools to retain young teachers
In recent years, with the increase of poverty alleviation efforts, rural infrastructure has been continuously improved, and policies such as job title evaluation and salary subsidies have been tilted to rural teachers, and the external environment for rural teachers to stay at the grassroots level has been continuously improved.
In the interview, the reporter found that compared with pay and treatment, working conditions, the conflict of educational concepts, the lag of management models, and the lack of cooperation of some parents in school education are more obstacles to young people staying in the countryside to teach.
How to create a working atmosphere for young teachers to play their talents and let them harvest a sense of professional achievement in the practice of rural education is the next step that should be paid more attention to.
-----------------------
After nearly two years of work in a central primary school in a town in Hubei, Ling Yuxin, a girl after 95, was determined to leave.
In early May of this year, she took the downtown school recruitment written test, unable to wait for the results of the written test, she worked, while preparing for the interview in advance.
Yushan Town Central Primary School, Linshu County, Shandong Province, "last year passed more than 20 exams." Ding Haixing, principal of Yushan Town Central Primary School, said he has witnessed the arrival and departure of a group of young teachers in the 23 years of work in the school, most of them through the county selection examination into the county school work.
"Our village and town primary school infrastructure here is OK, there should be, but the location is too remote, or it is difficult to attract talent, more difficult to retain talent."
Ding Haixing attributed the reason for not retaining teachers to the remoteness of geographical location.
In recent years, with the increase of poverty alleviation efforts, rural infrastructure has been continuously improved, and policies such as job title evaluation and salary subsidies have been tilted to rural teachers, and the external environment for rural teachers to stay at the grassroots level has been continuously improved.
In the interview, the reporter found that compared with pay and treatment, working conditions, the conflict of educational concepts, the lag of management models, and the lack of cooperation of some parents in school education are more obstacles to young people staying in the countryside to teach.
Some rural school teachers lack a sense of presence
“I entered as an art teacher, but I did not take an art class. ” In 2019, after graduating from Lingyuxin University, I came to a central primary school in a town in Hubei with a beautiful yearning for future work.
She, who studied digital media art at the university, hoped to play her professional expertise and teach art knowledge to rural children.
But when she came here, she found that the school did not offer art classes at all.
Due to the lack of teachers in the school, she was assigned to work as a mathematics teacher, but also as a science and ethics assistant teacher.
In addition to art classes, music, psychology and other sub-subjects were also forcibly canceled, "physical education classes may only be about 1 session per week", and students can only speak, science and calligraphy from Monday to Friday.
No art class is in a hurry to get rid of the rain.
She believes that the education of art, music and other sub-subjects is indispensable, these courses can not only help students to correctly understand beauty, to give students the enlightenment of beauty, but also help students to ease the tense learning atmosphere and adjust the pace of learning.
To this end, Ling Yuxin has specifically applied to the principal to work as a full-time art teacher.
Although the present work is busy enough, she still hopes to give each class an art lesson.
Unsurprisingly, she was refused.
"The whole school in the town, only see the results." Ling Yuxin said that each semester of the midterm, final exams, the school will be ranked according to the class comprehensive results, ranking the teacher in the back of the class deduction, ranking the teacher in the front of the reward money, forcing the teachers all to match the results.
In order to achieve results, Ling Yuxin felt like a spinning top every day.
Some students who take the school bus need to leave at 5: 30 to catch early self-study, and sleep is not guaranteed.
"Students can not do, the school will extend the class time, cancel all the sub-subjects, but the effect is worse, but the school believes that this can improve the results." Ling Yuxin to the school this way of education is very helpless.
And the people who are equally troubled by the rain, and Liu Rui.
He is a junior student of music science at Qufu Normal University, and in early March 2021, he came to a rural primary school in Xiao Yun Town, Jinxiang County, Jining City, Shandong Province.
He became a primary school music teacher, and as the only music teacher in the primary school, he was responsible for all music lessons from the first to the fifth grade.
Before he came to practice, even if the school opened music classes, it was also a music teacher who taught only songs and never taught music theory.
Liu Rui still remembers the first time he gave these children music lessons.
Before the class, he carefully prepared the course PPT, audio, video, and a short score of songs and some simple percussion instruments.
But it was only in the classroom that he discovered that the students did not even have music books.
He wrote on the blackboard "do, re, mi, fa, so, la, si" several basic notes, turning his head, the students looked at him blankly.
"Teacher, I won't." That's the most common phrase students say in class.
For these students who have no musical foundation at all, these music theory knowledge is "new stuff".
They don ’ t get bored and become the norm in their classes.
"I can 't let them daze, not to learn." Faced with this situation, Liu Rui began to slowly guide students to follow him to learn some simple musical gestures, let students participate in the classroom interaction, encourage them to learn more, build their learning initiative and self-confidence.
Music teaching has just had some success, but the class can't go on.
As a music teacher, Liu Rui ’ s sense of existence is somewhat low. “Because it is a village, the school does not attach importance to art education. ”
Uncooperative parents are a headache.
Fortunately, Liu Rui ’ s students made him feel the happiness of being a teacher, and he always enjoyed sharing the latest developments of students in his QQ space, sometimes videos, sometimes pictures, each dynamic is equipped with more than 100 words, and the words reveal the love of these rural children.
The rain was not as good as he was.
As a headteacher, she often has to face many "prickly head" students and "prickly head" parents.
In the first year of work, parents threatened to come to school and beat her.
Liu Ming, a fourth-grade student, often made trouble in school, bullied his classmates, spat at them, wrote on other people's clothes, and even stole things, blackmailed and robbed them of money.
This time, he deliberately stepped on the arm of a classmate at school.
Ling Yuxin hated iron and decided to call Liu Ming's father to communicate the situation of the child.
Liu Ming ’ s father not only did not want to pay for the examination of the injured students, but also blamed the teacher for improper management.
After being threatened by her parents, Ling Yu was giddy, tried to communicate for 10 minutes without success, she hung up the phone, closed the phone, and tried to calm herself down.
In desperation, Ling Yuxin had to contact with the "slightly reasonable" Liu Ming's grandmother and won 100 yuan for the examination fee for the trampled students.
"They send their children to school not to study, but to eat, drink and help to control them," said Ling Yuxin, a professor of Chinese medicine at the University of Hong Kong, who is also a professor of Chinese medicine at the University of Hong Kong.
Some of the children in the village were either unsupervised or grew up in an atmosphere of "eating, drinking and playing mahjong".
In the interview, some young teachers are generally confused that the goal of preventing dropout protection has made teachers feel helpless in the face of some particularly stubborn children.
Even if some students seriously violate discipline, teachers can only blindly "whisper" education.
Some teachers are strict with children, individual parents will not spare, and even go to the school to make a big noise, the principal is just a peacemaker, which makes the local environment feel strange young teachers, more feel no teacher dignity.
Young teachers value the work atmosphere and professional achievement of the school
In March 2020, Jiang Xiaoyun transferred from a township primary school in Shanglin County, Nanning City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to another township primary school in the same township.
"There is a shortage of key teachers, and old teachers are ready to retire," Jiang said. "There are only 13 teachers in her school, nearly half of whom are old teachers who are about to retire."
The shortage of key teachers has a great impact on the new young teachers.
Young teachers often have no teaching experience, but have to "rush to the shelves" to start the teaching task, even if the professor and professional do not match the subject, also can not get the help of old teachers.
They can only watch online teaching videos by themselves, sacrifice rest time, and repeatedly write lesson plans. “If old teachers come to open classes, they can let young teachers learn more. ”
Fortunately, in April this year, Jiang Xiaoyun was promoted and she became the school ’ s teaching director.
After the promotion, she immediately took action to summarize the teaching work in a timely manner, standardize the routine management, and find out the problems in teaching by organizing teachers to meet for teaching reflection.
"If the superiors come to check and ask questions, I will definitely tell you the truth about this phenomenon and will not condone their behavior," she said.
Fortunately, although there are some old teachers who are slack in their work, they do not take the teaching attitude of young teachers.
Jiang Xiaoyun said that the young teachers in the school are "closely united" and like a team, encourage each other, supervise each other, and share their teaching experience. "Is the recent mood wrong?" "Is the way of class not active enough?" "Is this kind of work helpful to students' progress?"
"To tell the truth, our current teaching results are not good, in the countryside, but we are determined to improve the quality of teaching," Jiang Xiaoyun said firmly.
In Jiang Xiaoyun 's view, thanks to the support of the school' s post-95 principal, she can show her strength. "He is very young and self-motivated, and he never procrastinates, and will not push things to young teachers because of his high position."
"It's not like a leader, it's more like a partner fighting side by side," Jiang Xiaoyun said, adding that she is grateful for the support of the principal.
In their fight together, Jiang Xiaoyun really saw the changes of the students.
During a home visit, Jiang Xiaoyun found a left-behind child whose parents divorced, did not do homework, did not like to read, and had poor grades.
In the school, ignored by teachers who “dare not care ”,“ only one person will stay at home, very lonely. ”
Jiang Xiaoyun began to pay close attention to the child's situation, encouraged him to study seriously, instructed the children's grandparents to communicate with him more, buy extra-curricular books for him, and cultivate his interest in reading.
After receiving attention, Jiang Xiaoyun found that the child's condition had improved significantly.
In Jiang Xiaoyun's class, he began to correct his attitude and complete his homework, and in a midterm exam, he got 60 points for the first time.
"It was a very fulfilling moment," Jiang Xiaoyun said. Seeing students get better is the happiest thing for me as a teacher.
As an orientation teacher, Jiang Xiaoyun needs to work in a rural school for six years.
About the future, Jiang Xiaoyun thought, she will still find a way to return to the county seat. "I have to think about my future life." Jiang Xiaoyun felt that she met a "good principal" to make some achievements, but what will happen in the future, she does not know.
(At the request of the interviewee, Ling Yuxin, Jiang Xiaoyun, Liu Rui as aliases)
YUAN XINYU, LIANG LUANGLING, ZHONGQING PAPER
(Edited by: Hao Mengjia, Xiong Xu)
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A study with newborns did use a structured schedule—20 minutes before and during a blood draw and five minutes after—and found reduced pain, but this protocol does not translate directly into classroom timing or volume recommendations.

Title:

Content: Study: Playing Mozart lullabies may ease pain in newborn blood tests
A randomized double-blind clinical trial involving 100 infants showed that playing Mozart lullabies may help reduce pain in newborns undergoing foot and blood tests, according to a medical research paper published in the journal Pediatrics, a professional academic journal of Springer Nature.
Lead author and corresponding author Saminathan Anbalagan of the Lincoln Center for Medical Mental Health in the United States, in collaboration with colleagues, measured the pain levels of newborns who received a heel blood test in New York City between April 2019 and February 2020 as part of routine screening for conditions such as jaundice and phenylketonuria.
Babies in the study were born at an average of 2 days, 39 weeks of gestation, 53% were male and 61% Hispanic.
As part of standard care, all babies were given 0.5 ml of sugar water 2 minutes before the heel blood was taken.
A researcher wearing noise-cancelling headphones assessed the pain levels of infants before, during and after heel blood collection. The pain levels were assessed based on the infant ’ s facial expressions, crying, breathing patterns, body movements and alertness.
Fifty-four of the 100 babies listened to Mozart lullabies for 20 minutes before and during the blood collection, followed by five minutes after the blood collection, while the other babies did not listen to any music.
The authors also considered the potential effects of other sensory inputs on pain levels, so the blood was always taken in a quiet, dimly lit, and temperature-appropriate room, and no pacifiers or physical soothing was given to the baby.
In this study, the authors observed that the two groups of infants had similar pain levels before blood collection, with a median pain score of 0 (up to 7).
But during and after blood sampling, the median pain in babies who listened to Mozart lullabies was significantly lower than in babies who did not listen to music.
After listening to the lullaby, the pain score was 4 points, the pain score was 0 points after one minute of blood sampling, and the pain score was 0 points after two minutes of blood sampling, while the pain score of infants who did not listen to music was 7 points, and the pain score was 5.5 points after one minute of blood sampling, and 2 points after two minutes.
They did not observe a significant difference in pain scores between the two groups of infants three minutes after the end of the blood collection.
The authors conclude that the findings suggest that playing recorded music may be an effective way to relieve pain in newborns undergoing minor surgery.
They believe that future studies could investigate whether recordings of parents' voices can also reduce pain in newborns during minor surgery, and explore the effect of physical soothing by caregivers other than music on pain levels.
I'm reading.

If the instructional goal is academic performance rather than mood regulation, integrating music more actively into lessons shows clearer benefits than passive listening, especially in mathematics.

Title:

Content: Saturday, July 1, 2023
The main theme of our lives is music.
Is it the solution to be stronger in mathematics?
The music...
Is it the solution to be stronger in mathematics?
“Encouraging math and music teachers to plan to present their lessons together can help reduce students ’ anxiety about math. ”
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Studies have shown that listening to music helps children improve their math scores, especially when music is an integral part of their lessons.
What if music makes math more fun?
This was suggested by researchers from the University of Antalya (Turkey) in a study, in which researchers analyzed academic databases, a research on the link between music and math scores, published between 1975 and 2022, and tracked participants from children ’ s homes to the university.
Three types of musical interventions were included in the meta-analysis: standard musical interventions (typical music lessons, where children sing, listen to and compose music), musical interventions (lessons where children learn to play an instrument, either individually or in a group) and integrated interventions in mathematics and music, where music is integrated into math lessons.
Before and after participating in these interventions, students took math tests, and their results were compared to those of young people who did not participate in the course.
According to work published in the journal Educational Studies, the use of music, either in separate lessons or as part of math classes, has been associated with greater improvement in math over time.
Moreover, classes that combine math and music have the most impact.
About 73% of students who received integrated interventions performed significantly better than those who did not receive the same interventions.
69% of students who learned to play an instrument and 58% of students who took regular music lessons improved more than students who did not participate in any musical intervention.
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The authors added that music makes arithmetic easier when learning compared to other types of math, and has a greater impact on younger students and those learning basic math concepts.
Common points between mathematics and music
According to Ayça Akın, author of the study, “Mathematics and music have many commonalities, such as the use of symbols and symmetry.
Both subjects also require abstract thinking and quantitative thinking.
Computation especially allows people to learn it through music, because basic concepts, such as fractions and proportions, are also essential materials for music. ”
“Encouraging math and music teachers to plan to deliver their lessons together can help reduce students ’ anxiety about math, while improving outcomes. ”
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Meta-analytic summaries indicate that 73% of students in integrated math-and-music interventions perform better in math, with regular music lessons helping 58% of students and instrumental learning improving math for 69% of students, particularly on basic concepts and in younger grades.

Music integration programs such as On-Ramp, which weave music into math and language curricula, have been linked to improved academic achievement and social-emotional learning.

Title:

Content: LAKE COUNTY

Konocti Unified wins $1.6 million in arts grant competition

With a score of 292/300 points possible, Konocti Unified School District (KUSD) was one of only 27 school districts nationwide to be awarded the Assistance for Arts Education (AAE) grant by the U.S. Department of Education. The four-year grant will provide $405,900 per year to fund a district-wide elementary music program using face-to-face instruction supported by online resources called Online Rural Arts and Music Program, or On-Ramp.

KUSD Superintendent Becky Salato said, “Konocti Unified is thrilled to bring music to our elementary students through this new program. Research shows that participation in the arts is good for kids—it improves academic achievement, engages students and families, and builds the social-emotional learning skills that students need for success in school and in life.”

On-Ramp is designed to support teachers in integrating music into math and language literacy curricula. Katie Wiley, KUSD visual and performing arts chair who will serve as the grant program manager, said, “Instructional minutes are precious at the elementary level, especially as when we are trying to recover from a pandemic, so taking time out of the day to add music would be difficult. This program uses music to reinforce lessons in math and English.”

The first year will be a planning year, beginning with a listening tour at each elementary school where students, staff, and parents can share ideas to shape the project. Using stakeholder feedback, KUSD will develop plans to implement the new music program district-wide. In the summer of 2022, KUSD will hire a music specialist who can support face-to-face lessons as well as create online lessons for teachers to employ in their classrooms.

KUSD also hopes to train 32 elementary teachers to become integration specialists, one per grade at each school site. These integration specialists will support fellow teachers in implementing On-Ramp. Finally, KUSD will invite local artists and parents to supplement music integration, for example, by providing music-related mini-lessons for students. KUSD will roll out the new music program for K-2 students first in the fall of 2022, and in subsequent years for grades 3-5, then 6-7.

Wiley, who teaches band at Lower Lake High School (LLHS), said, “Unless students come from the KEC music pathway, they usually arrive at the high school without any foundation in musical principles, and in four short years they perform at a high level. I’m excited to see what happens when they come in with some knowledge to build on.” The LLHS arts program currently includes drama, dance, visual art, ceramics, choir, show choir, guitar, beginning band, concert band, and jazz band.

Wiley invites all interested educators, parents, and community members to attend an informational meeting on January 13 from 3:30 to 5 p.m. at the McClung Conference Room at the District Office, located at 9430B Lake Street in Lower Lake. In addition to explaining the program and answering questions, Wiley hopes to identify potential steering committee members, who will provide input on key funding decisions throughout the life of the grant. Steering committee members will receive a small annual stipend for their service.

To support this work, KUSD is partnering with a nationally recognized project team that has successfully implemented multimillion-dollar arts grants in other districts around the country. Their efforts in federal grant projects have led to significant student achievement. Big Idea Arts and Education Consulting will help to manage the On-Ramp project in collaboration with district staff, while Education Design provides research and program evaluation.

—Submitted

SACRAMENTO

Caltrans hero awarded state’s highest honor for public servants

The State of California has awarded Caltrans Highway Maintenance Leadworker Royce Hiner with a Governor’s State Employee Medal of Valor for courage in the face of danger. Hiner received the Silver Medal of Valor for risking his life to save another.

“Many honorable servants to the state of California risk danger as part of their everyday duties. But occasionally someone goes beyond the line of duty to display extraordinary courage in the face of danger,” said Caltrans Director Toks Omishakin. “Royce Hiner is one such public servant. We honor and thank him for his bravery and are proud to have him in our Caltrans family.”

Hiner was traveling to a routine maintenance call on July 25, 2018, on Interstate 5 near Corning, when he encountered a van that was on fire. He stopped to help the driver, who was frantically trying to put the fire out. Hiner advised the driver to stay clear from the van as he worked to free a dog that was still in the vehicle. He was pulling the man away from the vehicle when it suddenly burst into flames. Hiner ensured the man remained safe until first responders arrived at the scene.

The State Employee Medal of Valor Award is the highest honor California bestows on its public servants. Governor Edmund G. Brown Sr. presented the first awards in 1959. Today nearly 700 state employees have earned that honor for displaying bravery, courage, and selflessness in the face of danger.

—Submitted

—Compiled by Ariel Carmona Jr.

Overall, the most defensible synthesis is that passive listening to Mozart, including K. 448, yields at best small and inconsistent short-term cognitive benefits with mixed replication, while individual differences and task characteristics strongly shape outcomes.

Current research agendas focus on identifying who benefits from music during cognitive tasks and on measuring brain activation during music-cognition interactions, reflecting a shift toward individualized and mechanistic accounts.

For elementary classrooms, the strongest data-driven approach is to prioritize structured music education and music-integrated instruction for academic gains, and to use background Mozart judiciously, tailored to student preferences and task demands.