The effects of music on cognitive performance

Abstract

Background – Listening to music is accompanied by many benefits, predominantly improving cognitive functioning. Numerous studies have investigated the effect music has on an individual’s cognitive ability in different cognitive tasks, different personalities, different types of music and different ways of how it is listened to. Little research has been done investigating how listening to individuals’ preferred and least preferred genre of music prior to completing cognitive tests can affect performance. Objectives – To determine if listening to an individuals liked or disliked music before completing some simple cognitive function tasks (testing selective attention, cognitive flexibility, processing speed and spatial and visual memory capacity) can enhance or diminish cognitive performance. Design – A randomised, crossover study design was applied to investigate the effects of an individuals liked or disliked music on cognitive function in 40 healthy individuals aged between 16-65. Participants listened to five minutes of no music, liked music and disliked music over three different days with a gap of two days in between, before completing cognitive tests. Cognitive performance was assessed using the Stroop test and the Corsi Block test. In addition, blood pressure was measured before and after listening to music. Results – In the Stroop test, the mean score of correct answers was statistically significantly higher in the liked music compared to no music in the second Stroop test (p=0.035) and in the liked music compared to disliked music in the third and fourth Stroop tests (S3 p=0.009, S4 p=0.006). The mean length of time to complete the Stroop test was statistically significantly lower in the liked music (S2 p=0.005, S3 p=0.015, S4 p=0.024) and disliked (S2 p=0.003, S3 p=0.047) compared to no music. There was no statistically significant difference between the forwards and backwards Corsi span in the no music, liked music and disliked music conditions. Additionally, there was no statistically significant difference between blood pressure before and after listening to music and completing cognitive tasks in all three music conditions. Conclusion –Listening to liked music enhanced cognitive performance in the Stroop task. However, listening to both liked and disliked music had no significant effect on performance in the Corsi Block test. Furthermore, music had no effect on BP. Keywords: Liked Music, Disliked Music, No Music, Cognitive Function, Blood Pressure