The Influence of Music on Memory: Can Listening to Mozart Really Make Us Smarter?

A curious silence fills the air just before a symphony begins, a kind of suspended anticipation. As a classical music and opera lover, I’ve often found myself at a loss for words to describe how music moves me. It’s as though it speaks directly to the soul, bypassing the clutter of language. Where words fail, music speaks. Or, as Aldous Huxley so beautifully put it, “After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.”

But can this profound art form do more than move us emotionally? Can it actually sharpen our minds? The notion that listening to Mozart can make us smarter—popularly called the "Mozart Effect"—has captured imaginations for decades. Yet, as I’ve learned, the story is far more nuanced than a simple yes or no.

The Mozart Effect gained fame in the early 1990s when a study suggested that college students who listened to a Mozart sonata for just ten minutes performed better on spatial reasoning tasks than those who sat in silence. It sounded like magic: a sprinkle of Mozart, and suddenly, your brain was a high-performing machine. Predictably, the media ran with it. Classical playlists were marketed as academic shortcuts, and parents played Mozart to their unborn children, hoping to raise little geniuses.

But, like many things, the truth lies in the details. Subsequent research revealed that the effect was temporary—lasting mere minutes—and not exclusive to Mozart. Any enjoyable music, from jazz to pop, seemed to improve mood and alertness, which could then boost performance on certain tasks. While the "Mozart Effect" may have been oversimplified, it revealed something profound: music has the power to engage the brain in extraordinary ways.

For me, music has always been a gateway to clarity and focus. I think about my stepdad, a musician who lived and breathed jazz. When we studied music together, I noticed how deeply it drew me into a state of flow—a space where time seemed irrelevant, and my mind felt sharper. Science confirms this. Music stimulates multiple areas of the brain simultaneously: the auditory cortex, hippocampus (essential for memory), and even the motor cortex, as we tap our feet or hum along. It’s no surprise music is used in memory care for patients with Alzheimer’s and dementia—it can reawaken parts of the brain thought long dormant.

In learning, too, music shines. Pairing information with melodies—mnemonic devices or simple tunes—can deeply embed memories. Even instrumental pieces, such as Mozart’s compositions, offer structured patterns that encourage focus and mental organization. Yet it’s not just the structure; it’s the emotional connection. Music stirs feelings, and feelings anchor memory.

So, does Mozart make us smarter? Perhaps not in the way we once hoped, but it makes us more alive, more attuned. It creates moments of clarity, helps us focus, and can even unlock forgotten memories. Whether it’s Mozart, a Puccini aria, or your favourite indie artist, music won’t turn us into geniuses—but it will help us remember what matters most.

For me, it’s the way it expresses the inexpressible. Let the music play. 🎵

Krisztina Kovacs / Evolve with Krisztina, 2024. All rights reserved.