What kind of music helps you study

Christ, Scott. Gannett, 17 Dec. University of Maryland Medical Center, n. UC Davis, 23 Feb. Does Music Help You Study? The Theory You have likely heard before that music helps you study.

Reduce Test Anxiety Anxiety can become a crippling blockade between students and their textbooks. Improve Your Performance Music is found to help people perform better in high-pressure situations, such as the bi-annual high-pressure event that is finals week.

It can even cure pain! Proven to improve brain functions Perhaps one of the most compelling reasons to listen to music during a study session is because music is proven to help improve cognitive performance. Music, Memory, Emotions Several studies in recent years have linked music, memory, and emotion. End Your Study Session with Classical Music We now understand that music and memory are strongly linked in the brain, and that music can be beneficial to study.

We Want You To Succeed! Works Cited Baker, Mitzi. Chat with Us. Chat With Us Name Email. Leave a detailed message. Fortunately, there are certain genres of music that have been shown to increase concentration and motivation. The best music for studying still depends a lot on personal preference, but the six genres below are good places to start. However, there are a surprising number of benefits to listening to classical music.

It can help reduce stress and even improve sleep patterns. Some students will concentrate better with simple instrumentation, while others will prefer the power of a full orchestra.

We recommend experimenting to find the best music for studying. YouTube and Spotify have many classical music playlists , so take a look and find some that work for you. This broad genre includes everything from slow, atmospheric music to pulse-pounding electronic dance music EDM.

Electronic music has become very popular among college and university students in recent years and the good news is that much of it is actually great for studying. YouTube also has a ton of great channels, such as Chillhop Music , which hosts live radio playlists for studying. With these in mind, it might seem fairly logical that music can improve your study sessions.

But not everyone agrees. Keep reading to learn more about the pros and cons of studying with music and get some tips for making the most out of your study playlist.

It mostly helps in indirect ways, but those benefits can still make a big difference. Perhaps you promised yourself a reward in order to get through the study session, such as the latest episode of a show you like or your favorite takeout meal.

Research from suggests music can activate the same reward centers in your brain as other things you enjoy. Rewarding yourself with your favorite music can provide the motivation you need to learn new information.

It can also help reduce stress and promote a more positive mindset. Research suggests that a good mood generally improves your learning outcomes. If you feel overwhelmed or upset, putting on some music can help you relax and work more effectively. According to a study from the Stanford University School of Medicine, music — classical music, specifically — can help your brain absorb and interpret new information more easily.

Your brain processes the abundance of information it receives from the world around you by separating it into smaller segments. The researchers found evidence to suggest that music can engage your brain in such a way that it trains it to pay better attention to events and make predictions about what might happen.

How does this help you study? Well, if you struggle to make sense of new material, listening to music could make this process easier. But you could notice a difference in your ability to reason your way to these answers based on the information you do have. Other research also supports music as a possible method of improving focus.

In a study of 41 boys diagnosed with ADHD , background music distracted some of the boys, but it appeared to lead to better performance in the classroom for others. According to a study , listening to classical music seemed to help older adults perform better on memory and processing tasks.

This idea stems from the " Mozart Effect ," a term coined in when scientists discovered that listening to Mozart's Sonata for 10 minutes resulted in better spatial reasoning skills -- a particular type of intelligence that involves visualizing and manipulating images in your brain.

The findings in that study got blown out of proportion, however, and classical music became synonymous with intelligence: so synonymous, in fact, that in , then-Governor of Georgia Zell Miller proposed sending a classical cassette tape to every baby born in the state, free of charge, so that the babies would become smart.

Even though the Mozart Effect has been more or less debunked in the time since, some experts still argue that music can offer other benefits to our brains -- namely, concentration and productivity. Read more: How to create the best exercise playlist for better workouts. Elicits positive emotions: People tend to be more productive and efficient when happy recent research confirms this , and the right kind of music can put a little pep in your step.

People who listen to music, in fact, may be happier overall than people who don't listen to music. Makes you feel upbeat: Sometimes, work and life just feel drab. If you've been feeling bored, a happy tune can make lackluster tasks seem more appealing.

Drowns out other noise: If you've ever worked in a coffee shop or an office with an open floor plan, you've probably been driven up the wall by the sounds of someone sniffling or shuffling their feet. Listening to music, particularly through a good pair of headphones , can drown out distracting noises.

Read more: Best music streaming: Spotify, Apple Music and more, compared. Research on music for productivity is inconclusive, to say the least. Some studies show that background music can improve your episodic memory and overall cognitive performance , yet other research suggests that background music can actually be a detriment to your ability to focus and learn.