Medical – Big Drum Thump

Play Drums, Get Smart

Well, sort of. A new medical study suggests that playing a drumming video game called Rhythmicity (developed by Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart) improves short-term memory in older adults.

The study tested 47 people between the ages of 60 and 79. Half the participants played a word-search game for 20 minutes a day, five days a week. The other half played Rhythmicity for the same amount of time. Those in the drumming group scored better on facial recognition tests.

“Results showed that only musical rhythm training improved face memory, which was associated with increased activity in the superior parietal region of the brain when encoding and maintaining faces.”

If you are into reading doctor-y study thingies, the full published article awaits your beautiful mind.

As for us, I guess we have to take back all the times we bitched about gamers and Rock Band?…

Drummers Ain’t Stupid…

And now there’s a study that proves it. Swedish researchers played a rhythm for a group of 34 participants with no musical training. The 34 newbies were then asked to tap out the same rhythm with a drumstick. Those who best held a steady beat were also those who scored higher on intelligence tests. What gives? According to the article:

The study suggests a biological basis for intelligence related to the regularity of nerve cell activity in the brain….In addition, the researchers found a relationship between high intelligence, the ability to hold a rhythm, and the volume of white matter found in the frontal lobes of the subjects’ brains.

So take that, guitar players. We got science on our side.