Enhance your memory. Play music in the background during conversations you want to remember. Music can be a surprisingly effective way to strengthen your recall of important information (try playing it quietly in the background the next time you speak with your doctor). One study found that students who listened to a lecture while classical music was on were able to retain the information much better than those who heard the lecture without music.
Recharge your brain. Play music during a break to encourage different neural pathways to join forces. The next time you're struggling to solve a puzzle or problem, turn on some classical tunes. Make it a power pause by clearing your head and giving the music your full attention. When the music ends, tackle your task again. Take advantage of the lift to your brain: In one important study, researchers found that for about 15 minutes after listening to Mozart, young adults performed spatial tasks better.
Ignite your creativity. In a research study, researchers found that participants who listened to happy music (classical music with positive, upbeat emotions) performed their tasks more creatively than those who did their tasks in silence. The music generated not only more ideas but more innovative ones.
Why
Shakespeare called music “the food of love,” but researchers have also found music to be the food of thought. Rich in complexity, classical music stimulates your brain the way exercise stimulates your body. Your brain, on classical music, unconsciously calculates the relationships between one note and the next. Studies suggest that upbeat classical music especially — think Vivaldi, Mozart, Beethoven — seems to prime our brains for certain kinds of thinking.
One study showed that listening to classical music enhances the secretion of a feel-good hormone called dopamine, as well as learning and memory. And if this genre is not your thing, many studies have found similar results with the whole spectrum of music, from jazz to rock ‘n’ roll.
