Music and Learning

I chose this topic because I was interested in a personal experience. When I play music int he background while deeply concentrating on some type of work, I have no problem weeding out the music and being able to focus. I wanted to know what affect music had on my learning process. What I found was quite interesting.When comparing electroencephalograms (EEGs) of children who were listening to music and who weren't there is an increase of brain activity in the temporal region. This region is responsible for sound and music. Research has shown that the brainwave activity increases when listening to music at a certain level. Research has also shown that it imporves cognitive functioning, assists in achieving higher mental performances and helps increase the size of the brains neurons. The brains neurons being larger is important because the larger and stronger they are, the stronger the pathways are which carry signals within the body. When thinking about the classroom, I remember having a teacher or two play classical or slow jazz in the background during a quiet reading time or work period. I didn't mind it; I felt focused, more confident and efficient with my work. However there is science reasoning on why this is so. Listening to classical music has shown improvements in math scores. Listening to soft rock or jazz has shown higher productivity and performance efficiency in students. For a teacher I would think this would be important to think of if you are giving individual work to students. This isn't 100% effective however; every student has their own musical preferences and not a single person's brain works the same way as another.