Listening to classical music results in a positive correlation between spatial reasoning and mindfulness.

Abstract

Music-based interventions have become increasingly popular. However, little is known about the effect of music on spatial reasoning skills and mindfulness. Further, even less is known about how classical music influences the ability of African Americans to enhance spatial reasoning skills and to develop mindfully attentive awareness. Mindfulness is defined as the state of being attentive to and aware of what is taking place in the present moment. Spatial reasoning refers to the ability to mentally manipulate objects or physically navigate through space. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether these concepts were correlated by analyzing posttest data collected from individuals exposed to a receptive music program for various lengths of time (30 min, 3, 6, and 12 weeks, respectively). Seventy-six African Americans ranging from 18 to 65 years of age (M = 26) participated in our research. We predicted that daily, long-term listening to classical music would lead to a positive relationship between mindfulness measured using the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) and spatial reasoning measured using the Spatial Ability Practice Test 1 (SAPT1). A statistically significant moderate correlation (r(17) = .495, p = .026) was observed between MAAS and SAPT1 posttest scores for participants in the 12-week condition. A repeated-measures multivariate analysis of variance also indicated a statistically significant difference between mindfulness and spatial ability scores on the combined dependent measures obtained from individuals in each music condition (F(3, 72) = 42.812, Wilk’s Lambda = .975, p = .001, partial eta-squared = .372). Post hoc test showed that scores obtained for the 30-min and 12-week conditions were significantly different, as were scores from the 3-week and 12-week conditions (Tukey, HSD). Our findings supported the hypothesis tested, and the results have implications in higher education and other professions.

Regulation of Mindfulness-Based Music Listening on Negative Emotions Related to COVID-19: An ERP Study

“…Temporary mindfulness meditation training, as a relaxed state of enhanced self-regulation, effectively regulated individuals’ negative moods and non-judging of inner experience, which improved emotion processing [ 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 ]. Mindfulness-based music listening has been shown to regulate negative mood [ 10 , 39 , 40 ], decrease psychological stress and anxiety symptoms [ 40 ], and enhance body awareness [ 30 ] and attentional control [ 10 ].…”

Exploring the Environmental Manifestation of Types of Music on Reinforcing Mindfulness and Concurrent Calorie Intake

“…Specifically, those who practice mindfulness through meditational exercises on average increase their predisposition to be mindful in daily life, which in effect has shown to contribute towards healthier eating behaviours across time (Dalen et al, 2010;Jordan et al, 2014;Kristeller, Wolever, & Sheets, 2014). In general, there seems to be little research conducted on music and its effect on mindfulness; however, previous studies that have been conducted do suggest a possible association between the two, specifically regarding classical music (Bell et al, 2016). For example, similar to classical music, mindfulness practices are also suggested to have a calming effect amongst participants (e.g., Lauricella, 2014) , and similar neurophysiology amongst those who regularly engage in mindfulness meditation and those who listen to classical music on a daily basis has also been found (Aoun et al, 2005;H€ olzel, Carmody, Vangel, Congleton, Yerramsetti, Gard, & Lazar, 2011;Vuilleumier, 2005).…”

Effects of Mindfulness Meditation on Musical Aesthetic Emotion Processing

“…Mindfulness-based music listening can increase listening sensitivity and enjoyment (Anderson, 2016;Baylan et al, 2018), improve well-being (Brown and Ryan, 2003;Rodríguez-Carvajal and Lecuona, 2014;Sorensen et al, 2018;Loo et al, 2020), enhance body awareness and listening experiences (Diaz, 2013;Rodríguez-Carvajal and Lecuona, 2014), and decrease psychological stress and anxiety symptoms (Tomaselli, 2014). Specific musical activities, such as listening to mindfulness music, chorus training, music performance, and music creation, could induce a state of mindfulness meditation, which moderates the absorption of musical stimuli by the participants and affects their emotional experiences (Bell et al, 2016;Lynch and Wilson, 2017;Dvorak and Hernandez-Ruiz, 2019).…”

“…Mindfulness meditation, as a state, trait, or clinical intervention, has been widely used in emotion regulation, attention, psychotherapy, and clinical medicine, among other fields (Brown and Ryan, 2003 ; Sahdra et al, 2011 ; Singh et al, 2014 ; Bueno et al, 2015 ; Zanesco et al, 2016 ; Zanesco, 2017 ; Andreu et al, 2019 ; Bailey et al, 2019 ). It has brought many positive effects to people, such as regulated negative emotions, enhanced self-awareness, improved well-being, enhanced psychological function, and reduced stress symptoms, and improved cognitive recovery (Brown and Ryan, 2003 ; Rodríguez-Carvajal and Lecuona, 2014 ; Tomaselli, 2014 ; Anderson, 2016 ; Bell et al, 2016 ; Baylan et al, 2018 ; Sorensen et al, 2018 ; Loo et al, 2020 ; Misba et al, 2020 ). Previous studies have shown a certain relationship between mindfulness meditation and specific music activities (Rodríguez-Carvajal and Lecuona, 2014 ).…”