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Andy’s Quick Hits (254): Groovy Music Improves Brain Performance
Get into the groove… or so sang Madonna with her hit single in 1985. Little did she know at the time but getting into the groove certainly does seem to be beneficial for you — not to prove your love as she demanded, but in improving cognitive, brain, performance.
Really, yes.
Researchers at the University of Tsukuba in Japan have investigated the impact of groovy music, music related to rhythm and dance, and stimulating the urge to move, on cognitive performance.
To do this these researchers gave cognitive tasks and conducted brain scans using near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to measure participants before and after playing groovy music.
They found that groovy music improved cognitive performance scores, and this was related to increased function in an area of the brain called the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (l-DLPFC). Many prefrontal regions are associated with higher cognitive functions. However, there is a caveat, and that is this effect could only be seen in those participants who said they enjoyed the music only.
So, this raises the question of whether it is groovy music that stimulated this process or simply music that you enjoy — other research has shown the positive benefits of music on just about everything.
