Is Noise Always Bad? Exploring the Effects of Ambient Noise on Creative Cognition
I loved reading this study - it reminded me of my own undergraduate work as a Psych major when I was looking at how sound affected physical performance. What the paper is suggesting is that the low level processing systems of the brain get occupied by the ambient noise, forcing the brain to use a higher level of processing when attending to additional tasks. This results in greater creativity - which is something we've been gambling our live on!
You can read about my original study here:
Dangerous Decibels
We occasionally see articles about loud music and the damage it can do to teen's ears. What we didn't know is that there is a movement called Dangerous Decibels which tackles the problem directly. What we like about this is that it give parents tangible advice on how to help their kids keep their hearing. If you're the parent of kid who seems to have ear buds surgically implanted in their ear canal - you might want to check this out.
How to Listen to Music at Work Without Sacrificing Productivity
There's pretty much a consensus nowadays that listening to music at work can help productivity - bosses and managers are getting used to seeing employees wearing ear buds and headphones and are even welcoming the fact. As the idea matures we see writers spending less time on justification and more on how to make the music really work for you. This Amex article look s at what types of music can help different working activities - nothing earth shattering here but it's great to see such corporate media channels getting on the music at work bandwagon.
The Super Simple Way to Improve Your Mood
Study out of Missouri that looked at mood regulation - particularly how to make yourself happier using variations of happy sounding and less positive music combined with setting an intention to be happier. Seems that you need both - happy music and a good intention and you can improve your mood. Awesome!
Library, Magic House Team Up to Help Ferguson Kids Cope with Crisis
It's amazing to me how fast music therapy is gaining ground in society. There's nothing new about putting on activities and distractions for kids in tough environments, such as the hell everybody went through inFergusonearlier this year - but the fact that a music therapist is part of those activities and a very popular one to boot - is an indication of just how far we've come.
Music as medicine has huge potential, study suggests
This was the study published last year from Daniel Levitin and Mona Lisa Chanda that reviewed 400 scientific papers on how music affects the human being. It's pretty clear that there are significant benefits across the board and the idea of music as medicine (a medicine with no side effects,) is something we can all get behind. A nice summary and worth the read.
#musictoworkto #creativity #medicine #mood #ambient
Written while listening to: Trust
Image Credit: Creativity by Sean MacEntee on Flickr