Research Review

Question: Does music make you smarter?

1. List of Keywords
Music and intelligence
Music effects on intelligence
Music effects on IQ
Music and the brain
Does music make you smarter?

Overall, most of my keywords led to pretty good sources. The keywords that got me the
most information was music and intelligence, music effects on intelligence, and does music
make you smarter?. The last phrase on the list led to mostly non-scholarly sources sources
that were towards a general audience such as blog posts. The first keyword on the list typically
brought up scholarly sources.

2. Concept Map
 Physical effects of music on the brain
Grey matter, larger brain parts
Changes brain organization

Physical effects of music on the brain

Music enhances spatial skills and many other intelligences Have to play instrument rather than just listen to music

Mozart effect
Have to play an instrument to strengthen brain

3. Synthesis

Over all of the sources, I find the answer to my question is yes, music does make you

smarter, but it depends on what you define smarter as. Does Music Make You Smarter?

shows that intelligence is divided into subcategories of multiple intelligences one of them
being musical intelligence. Obviously, musical training enhances your musical intelligence and

abilities, but it also sharpens other skills and intelligences as well (Demorest & Morrison, 2000).

In Music and Intelligence, it lists a few of the things that music students have to do in

class that enhance their skills, such as focusing for a long period of time, decoding a symbolic

system, understanding fractions and ratios for note values, and memorizing music (Dewar,

2014). I didnt realize that I was doing all of these things in class like decoding a symbolic

system, which essentially means just reading sheet music. Now that I think about it, its kind of

like learning, reading, and speaking a whole other language.

Also, many of the sources talk about the physical aspects of the brain that are changed

due to musical training. Music and Intelligence explains that musicians have better brainstem

responses and they have a more significant amount of grey matter than those without musical

training (Dewar, 2014). Can Music Make You Smarter? give specifics to this information.

The guys in the video explained that musicians have 130% more grey matter, a 15% larger

corpus callosum, and a larger cerebellum. They also show that training allows for more neural

pathways to be created (Vsauce Special).

Playing an instrument works your brain. This Is Why Playing an Instrument Makes You

Smarter explains that the motor cortex, corpus callosum, sensory cortex, and many other parts

of the brain are utilized in musical training to provide optimal brain usage (Levi, 2016). Also,

exercise in addition to brain stimulation increases brain function as well as an enhanced mental

capacity at an old age (FYI Living, 2011).

In general, I believe that the phrase use it or lose it is essential to know when talking

about intelligence. The more you work it, the more intelligent you will be. If you dont
challenge your brain to work hard, then youll never enhance your skills. Musical training is just

one of many beneficial ways of exercising your brain.

4. References

Demorest, S. M., & Morrison, S. J. (2000). Does Music Make You Smarter?. Music Educators
Journal, 11-17. doi: 10.2307/3399646

Dewar, G. (2014). Music and Intelligence. Retrieved from

http://www.parentingscience.com/music-and-intelligence.html

FYI Living. (2011, Sep. 19). Musicians Are Probably Smarter Than The Rest of Us. Retrieved
from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/20/music-intelligence_n_904124.html

Levi. (2016, Jan. 14). This Is Why Playing An Instrument Makes You Smarter. Retrieved from
https://www.joytunes.com/blog/learn-to-play/how-to-become-smarter-by-playing-an-
instrument/

Vsauce Special: Can Music Make You Smarter?. (Video File). Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8zU7PyUrdU