Category: Medicine and Neuroscience

The symphony in DNA

Nineteen years ago, in the spring of 2003, the Human Genome Project (HGP) was finished. It accounted for approximately 92% of the human genome, with the remaining 8% being part of continued research by the Telomere-to-Telomere (T2T) consortium. Last month, the human genome sequence was officially declared complete— all 3 billion base pairs. The world…
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Music & Memory— Organization Spotlight

It’s the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America’s Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, and in addition to our work at memory care homes, the Chords for a Cause team wants to highlight the work of other nonprofits that work with Alzheimer’s patients on a daily basis. The Music and Memory non-profit organization caters to the millions of elderly Americans…
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A Musician’s Rite of Passage

Sweaty palms and cold, clammy fingers. Teeth rattling as the temperature plummets another ten degrees. Fingertips gnawing between skirt seams. Although many of us, performers, dread the pre-recital symptoms, they only add to the charm of a musical masterpiece.  The scientific cause of stage fright, simply put, is our brain calculating the odds of failure.…
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Can Music Therapy Help Patients With ADHD?

ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, is a prominent neurobehavioral disorder in childhood and adolescence. Though ADHD is a chronic condition with symptoms experienced over a lifetime, ADHD mainly affects children and adolescents. ADHD, often shows up as the inability to concentrate for prolonged periods of time, being unable to follow instructions, having difficulty completing detailed…
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How Martha Curtis Used Music As Her Guiding Light

I had a very strong sense that I had to stay involved in my own life to have a life that I wanted to live…Life is not linear…it’s a winding road. It’s not a straight shot…On that winding road, I got knocked down a lot of times. So I had to learn, all I had…
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Can Everyone Sing?

We tend to perceive the ability to sing as an innate ability rather than a honed skill. The probing question remains: is everyone capable of singing well? According to a Canadian study, roughly 98.5% of the population can learn to sing while the remaining 1.5% are barred by congenital amusia, difficulty differentiating between pitches, tones,…
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Using Music for Studying

Although listening to music while studying affects everyone differently, the action has been proven to increase concentration, alertness, and memory. If you enjoy music, it triggers the same hormones as other things you enjoy, thus putting you in a state where you are much more willing to maintain information. In addition, it also helps alleviate…
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Does Listening to Music Improve Your Workout?

Many people listen to music to help them study or sleep better, but did you know that music can also be used to improve your overall physical ability? Several studies have found that people who listen to music while engaging in physical activity actually performed better than people who did it in silence. So, how…
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Classical, Rock, or Folk? Our Musical Taste is Reflective of Our Personality.

Personalized music is becoming increasingly prevalent these days. With the rise of services such as Spotify and YouTube, we have refined our music selections by determining what we enjoy listening to most. With these advancements, there has also been increased questioning about whether there is a correlation between certain groups of people and musical styles…
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Does Music Help With Studying?

By Malak Ettahali For many students, these recent weeks have been jam packed full with final exams. And sometimes, it can be difficult to stay concentrated with the amount of stuff going on. Thankfully, there are a multitude of things students can do to stay focused, including listening to music!  But, make sure to be…
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