Music can enhance children’s transition to school

This research was conducted by Shulamit Ritblatt, Sascha Longstreth, Audrey Hokoda, Bobbi-Nicole Cannon and Joanna Weston at San Diego State University, USA.

Summary

In the United States the notion that by school age 'all children will be ready to learn' is a national education goal. In reality this is often not …

By | 1 March 2018 |

Prolonged arts education reduces stress in children from low-income households

This research was conducted by Eleanor D. Brown, Mallory L. Garnett, and Kate E. Anderson at West Chester University and Jean-Philippe Laurenceau at the University of Delaware, USA.

Summary

Children growing up in deprived households are known to experience higher levels of physiological stress, which in turn results in a range …

By | 19 February 2018 |

The emotional power of poetry and its impact on our brains

This research was conducted by Eugen Wassiliwizky, Valentin WagnerStefan Koelsch, and Winfried Menninghaus at Frankfurt am Main, and Thomas Jacobson at Helmut Schmidt University, Germany.

Summary

It is widely accepted that music can engage us, triggering emotional responses such us “chills” and “goosebumps”. In this study, …

By | 1 February 2018 |

The positive impacts of active music participation for infants

This research was conducted by David Gerry, Andrea Unrau and Laurel J. Trainor at McMaster University, Canada.

Summary

To understand the developmental impact of active participation in music, this study worked with two groups of six-month old infants who attended music-based sessions with teachers and their parents. One group participated in …

By | 10 August 2017 |

The effects of music training on hearing in children

This research was conducted by Asal Habibi, B. Rael Cahn, Antonio Damasio and Hanna Damasio at the University of Southern California, USA.

Summary

This study found that children engaged in music training had an enhanced ability to detect changes in pitch and to process sounds, compared with children who were not …

By | 3 August 2017 |

Men tend to be perceived as creative more often than women

This research was conducted by Devon Proudfoot, Aaron C. Kay and Christy Z. Koval at Duke University, USA.

Summary

Even when producing identical outputs, men are perceived as more creative than women, and ‘outside-the-box’ creative thinking is associated with stereotypically masculine characteristics. The study provides a statistical analysis of reactions …

By | 31 July 2017 |

How a school museum visit helps create cultural equality

This research was conducted by Brian Kisida, Jay P. Greene and Daniel H. Bowen at the University of Arkansas and the University of Houston, USA.

Summary

Cultural capital comprises the set non-economic resources that are at one’s disposal through life (things like language and accent, dress sense, etc) and that …

By | 24 July 2017 |

How learning visual art improves creativity and changes the brain

This research was conducted by Alexander Schlegel and eight others at Dartmouth College, USA and Beijing Normal University, China.

Summary

This study investigated the impact of visual art training on young adults’ behaviour and changes in brain activity. A group of undergraduate students who were given introductory painting or drawing lessons …

By | 17 July 2017 |

Managing dementia through object handing in museums

This research was conducted by Paul M. Camic, Sabina Hulbert and Jeremy Kimmel at Canterbury Christ Church University, UK

Summary

The importance of subjective health and wellbeing for individuals with dementia is often overlooked in favour of a highly medicalised approach to care. Dementia management presents a significant societal challenge worldwide. …

By | 13 July 2017 |

Musicians react faster than non-musicians

This research was conducted by Simon P. Landry and François Champoux at the Université de Montréal, Canada.

Summary

This study aimed to investigate whether long-term musical training improves unisensory (audio or tactile) and multisensory (audio and tactile) processing capacities. It found that musical training improves ability for both single and multiple …

By | 3 July 2017 |