There is no proof that classical music helps improve IQ, writes Barry RossIn 1993, a research team of psychologists Frances Rauscher, Gordon Shaw and Katherine Ky published some surprising experimental results in the scientific periodical Nature.The team had tested people's performances on a spatial reasoning puzzle usually included in a standard IQ test. Those taking part were split into three groups: one group sat in silence, another listened to a relaxation tape, and the rest listened to Mozart.Results indicated that the Mozart group performed significantly better than the other two .What followed was a combination of poor reporting in the non-scientific press and opportunism by those looking to make a quick buck. Within months, shelves were packed with CDs of classical music that supposedly could be used to improve brain power.The "Mozart effect", a term not even mentioned by the research team, was trademarked.Parents harnessed the power of the "Mozart effect" to provide an easy way of boosting childhood cognitive development.The results of the study were misrepresented. For a start, the spatial reasoning task used by the study is not the same as IQ, and nowhere did the researchers claim that music improves IQ .The study stated that the positive effect of Mozart's music lasted only for about 15 minutes.story_article_left1It is true that prolonged musical activity (such as learning to play an instrument) results in changes in the brain. But this is true of almost any activity that requires learning complex motor sequences. Consider also the fact that the experimental subjects were all students, and not infants or young children - the latter being the group that the majority of "classical-music-makes-you-smarter" products target.The simple explanation is known to psychologists as an arousal effect. The group that had something mildly interesting to do (listening to Mozart) fared better than the group who had little more to do than stare at the wall or relax.Since the original study, many laboratories have failed to replicate the "Mozart effect" and replication is key to establishing the trustworthiness of a scientific theory.Another facet of the commercialism of the "Mozart effect" implies that the only music that can make you clever is classical music. Researchers Glenn Schellenberg and Susan Hallam tested this by having groups do a spatial task after either sitting in silence, listening to Schubert, or listening to the rock band Blur.Blur's music provided the greatest arousal effect. This has been humorously dubbed the "Blur effect". Another study found that listening to a Stephen King story also improved cognitive performance, but only if subjects enjoyed the story.Scientific research on how the brain processes and reacts to music is in its infancy. In many cultures, music is an activity that all members of a community take part in. Children are often involved in communal music-making. This is unlike Westernised listening habits, which are usually passive.There is a fair amount of data suggesting that communal music-making has beneficial social effects, tapping into emotional functions such as the capacity for empathy.Parents could do better by spending on group musical activities instead of CDs. Or better yet, singing to their children.Dr Barry Ross is a post-doctoral research fellow at the South African College of Music, UCT, where he works on the perception of pitch. His work is supported by the National Research Foundation...