Increase Your Intelligence With Music
You Are What You Listen To
Can music really help you think better? Yes, according to the research that has been done so far.
Listening to, and participating in music creates new neural pathways in your brain that stimulate creativity. Studies have shown that music actually trains the brain for higher forms of thinking. There was a study at the University of California, for example, about 10 years ago.
Researchers followed the progress of three year olds, split into two groups. The first group had no particular training in, or exposure to music. The second group studied piano and sang daily in chorus.
After eight months the musical three year olds were much better at solving puzzles. When tested, they also scored 80% higher in spatial intelligence than the non musical group. With such a dramatic difference, there is bound to be more research like this in the future.
There is also anectdotal evidence that listening to music, especially from Mozart's era, can help you study and learn better. Hopefully there will be research done to confirm or disprove this soon, but there is really no good reason not to do your own experimentation in this area. Stephen King writes with loud rock music playing, so maybe any benefits here are according to your own tastes or brain-organization.
Brainwave Entrainment
Want to listen to some music, and get smarter? There are a number of products out there that are based on an entirely different principle than the research mentioned above. They rely on "entraining" your brainwaves, in order to put you in a meditative state.
Brain wave frequencies vary according to mental state. Daydreaming and light meditation usually take place in the "Alpha" range of frequencies, for example. So if you listen to music containing beats at a frequency of 10 Hz it will feel very relaxing, because your brain will begin to follow this frequency and reproduce the rhythm in the music. You will automatically generate more brainwaves at a 10 Hz frequency and enter a relaxed Alpha mental state.
What these new products do is embed music with beats and pulses that entrain your brain waves to a specific frequency. You just put in the right CD or MP3 for your activity (you don't wan't an Alpha state for analytical work), and you get better brain function. Science? Partly.
It is well established that our brain wave frequencies change with our mental states and vice-versa. It is has also been clearly demonstrated that meditators can go into an alpha state at will, and that this has beneficial effects (lowering of stress, blood pressure, etc.). Do the tapes accomplish this more easily?
Yes, in my experience. I've found two products that put me in a peaceful state unlike any other music or meditative practice. Studies will prove the effects (some have already), and disprove the wilder claims of some of these products. Given the results I experienced, however, I wouldn't wait for the research, any more than I would have waited for proof of the existence of vitamin C before I'd continue eating limes to cure scurvy a hundred years ago.
Wait for more evidence of the benefits of brainwave entrainment, if you must, but why not try classical music the next time you need to study, just to see if it helps? Experiment with music - I haven't yet heard of any damage caused by Mozart.
Steve Gillman has been studying brain improvement, concentration, creative problem solving, and related topics for years. You can visit his website, and subscribe for free to his Brain Power Newsletter at: http://www.IncreaseBrainPower.com/newsletter.html
Latest News
 Bleacher Report | Muschamp’s withdrawal from coaching search may be good for Clemson RealFootball365.com, AZ - This effectively took him out of the head coaching prospect pool for not only Clemson but Tennessee and other schools that may have had him on their hit ... Where there's a Will Picking successor eases transition for college programs Will Muschamp Named Successor to Mack Brown, Will Stay at Texas |
 Fighting Irish Insider | ND's Ianello interested in a head coaching job Chicago Tribune, United States - AP SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Notre Dame wide receivers coach Rob Ianello, whose name has been mentioned in media reports as a possible candidate for the Syracuse ... Video: Ianello Addresses Coaching Rumors Looking For Transportation Injuries add up in win |
 Boston Globe (registration) | Melrose blames Lightning players for his coaching demise SportingNews.com - Barry Melrose, who was fired as coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning last Friday, resurfaced a day later and said in an interview on Hockey Night in Canada that ... Have a question for the Lightning's Rick Tocchet? Tampa Bay's new head coach Rick Tocchet to install high-tempo game Scott Burnside: Barry Melrose not solely responsible for the ... |
 AthlonSports.com | Fassel: Link to Raiders coaching job is merely speculation San Jose Mercury News, USA - By Steve Corkran Former New York Giants coach Jim Fassel said Tuesday that he hasn't spoken with Raiders owner Al Davis in recent days and that his name ... Raiders to dig up Fassel? Coach might fit just fine Vacchiano: Fassel deserves another shot If Jim Fassel Can't Convince Al Davis to Hire Him, He Could Always ... |
 WSLS.com | Virginia Tech intrigued by Texas' coaching plan ESPN - By Joe Schad Virginia Tech athletic director Jim Weaver said Wednesday that he is intrigued by Texas' coach-in-waiting arrangement and has reached out to ... Blogs › The Clemson Sports Blog Will Virginia Tech offer Bud Foster a Texas-like deal? |
For a Coach, the First Team to Build Is the One That's Hired Washington Post, United States - No, a high school football coach selecting a staff after arriving from another program. Obama needs a secretary of defense; Eleanor Roosevelt Coach Tom ... |
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga ’s Hart contacts coaching ... Chattanooga Times Free Press, TN - It will be the final game for the team’s 14 seniors and for coach Rodney Allison, whose career at UTC will end after six seasons. One of the key components ... UTC Blog: Allison candid in final media luncheon |
Zorn, again: Former assistant returns with Redskins Seattle Post Intelligencer - But the NFL was in his blood, and he also wanted it to be in his coaching future. So Zorn took a one-year stint as an offensive assistant with the Seahawks ... |
First-year Towson coach back where she started Baltimore Sun, United States - When Emily Berman played volleyball at Towson six years ago, she had no aspirations of becoming a coach. Then, after a shoulder injury ended her playing ... |
Ohlmeyer finds his coaching niche at St. Edward's Austin American-Statesman, TX - By Doug Smith Todd Ohlmeyer, the new men's golf coach at St. Edward's University, is one of those few fortunate souls who always knew what they wanted in ... |
Resources
-
The Life Coach Marketing Bible
Learn how to get more clients and improve your Coaching or consulting business with this ground breaking eBook.
-
Clutter-Free Forever!
The Home Coaching Program that puts you back in control of your life!
-
Organizing Your Youth Soccer Team
Youth soccer Coaching book of over 100 drills, and exercises for beginning and experienced youth soccer coaches.
-
salestraining sales training marketing consultant at salestraining.cc
Sales Excellence, Inc. delivers world-class sales training programs, sales management consulting, expert one-on-one sales Coaching and a free monthly e-newsletter on sales techniques!
-
Feng Shui Ebooks
The CLUTTER-FREE FOREVER! Home Coaching Program is a new approach to clutter clearing that goes beyond telling you how to clean up and get organized to reveal the hidden emotional and psychological reasons why coping with clutter is so hard to do. And it
-
Polish your writing and achieve your professional goals
Clarice Kyd Dankers, M.A., provides professional editing and Coaching services for business and academic writers. Her work incorporates eight years of experience in corporate communications with extensive experience in linguistics, publishing and universi
-
GottaGettaCoach! On-Line Store. Purchases, Downloads, Shop.
1-on-1 management Coaching and mentoring services by telephone for executives and mid-level managers.
-
Relationship Advice-Counseling-Coaching at GirlShrink.com
Are you depressed? In a bad relationship? Been cheated on?
-
Help for Fathers | Mark Brandenburg
Help for fathers, dads, father Coaching, parents, kids, family, relationship help
-
The EFT Coach - The first book on using EFT as a Coaching tool.
The first ever book on EFT and Coaching. For professional coaches, EFT practitioners and self-helpers interested in using EFT to help achieve their personal goals.