The Japanese study which reveals it specifies that the prefrontal cortex is well stimulated by rhythmic music.
Scientists from the University of Tsukuba, in the east of the Japanese archipelago, reveal that listening to music with a groove rhythm is likely to promote good cognitive performance.
It’s in the magazine Scientific Reports their results have been published. The benefits of groovy music on the executive function of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex were sought. Professor Hideaki Soya, lead author of the study, brain functions are improved but he specifies: “Groove rhythms elicit groove sensations and positive affective responses. However, it is not known whether they influence executive function”.
A brain exam for 51 volunteers
And he adds: “As a result, in the present study, we performed brain imaging to assess corresponding changes in executive function and measured individual psychological responses to groove music”.
51 adults listened for three minutes to music with a groovy rhythm or a white noise metronome, allowing time to be marked. Before and following listening, the volunteers underwent functional near-infrared spectroscopy, with the aim of gauging changes in executive function, as well as assessing psychological responses to rhythm.
The stimulated prefrontal cortex
Thus, in volunteers who indicated a desire to move and a greater sense of lucidity, music improved executive function in this part of the brain. brain. The researchers believe that these psychological responses to listening to this type of rhythm might predict its changes in executive function.
The Japanese specialist summarizes: “Our results indicate that individual differences in psychological responses to music with a groove beat modulate effects on executive function. As such, the effects of groove rhythm on cognitive performance may be influenced by familiarity or beat-processing ability..