The Power of Music

I loved this bit of research I stumbled upon through the Museum of Science and Industry.

I must not have been in the Spice Girls era enough but Lou Bega’s “Mambo #5” (I have to admit, I didn’t know the artist) and Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger,” are definitely catchy and fun!

The study was based on how much time it took 12,000 people to recognize the tune, among other things. The average recognition time was 5 seconds, with the top three averaging around 2.5 seconds.

Why is it that music has so much power? The way the brain processes music is an entire industry of sorts. Researchers can use this cognitive data to understand larger issues such as understanding dementia and communication strategies to employ with such patients. Pretty cool. (For all of my music friends, I know this scratches merely the surface on the power of music, so perhaps I can cover other topics later! Guest blog volunteers?)

I absolutely love music but I don’t have a great iTunes playlist, and honestly am pretty boring when it comes to what I listen to on a regular basis. This list has me convinced that I need to listen to music a lot more. There’s nothing like an impromptu dance party to SHIFT THE MOOD of the house, the car, etc.

In fact, I recommend, you make it a point to have such a party sometime this week! Choose one of these top three or from the list below, or HECK, come up with your own. If you have one you feel should have been in the top, let us all know! (For some reason, I would add AC/DC’s Back in Black, which pretty much anyone that knows me, knows I’m not hard rock fan… but that song always brings out the crazy college dance days back!)

The other top ones on the list (I am so happy to see The Human League made the cut!):