If you’ve read Fidget to Focus, you know we’ve been telling people for years that listening to  music while you do your homework really can help.

A newly published study examined this phenomenon in a controlled experiment. The results were most revealing.

In this study, inattentive schoolchildren performed significantly better when so-called white noise was played during class. However, the background noise had the opposite effect on normally attentive children, whose classroom performance deteriorated.

This may explain why it’s so hard for others to believe that some of us really can study better with our music on!

The citation for the study is:

Söderlund G, et al “The effects of background white noise on memory performance in inattentive school children.” Behav Brain Funct 2010; DOI: 10.1186/1744-9081-6-55.

You can find it here: http://www.behavioralandbrainfunctions.com/
And a summary here: http://www.medpagetoday.com/Pediatrics/ADHD-ADD/22481

So, what do you think? Can you study better when there’s background noise?