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If music makes you smarter, and exercise helps brain function, can exercising to music really boost brainpower? Some researchers said it can.
Volunteers who listened to Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" while working out on a treadmill did much better on a test of verbal ability than when they exercised without music, a team at Ohio State University found.
"Evidence suggests that exercise improves the cognitive performance of people with coronary artery disease," said psychologist Charles Emery, who led the study.
"And listening to music is thought to enhance brainpower. We wanted to put the two results together," Emery added in a statement.
Writing in the latest issue of the journal Heart & Lung, Emery and colleagues said they studied 33 men and women taking part in a cardiac rehabilitation program after having bypass surgery, angioplasty or other procedures to treat clogged arteries.
The volunteers said they felt better emotionally and mentally after working out with or without the music. But their improvement on the verbal fluency test doubled after listening to music on the treadmills.
"Exercise seems to cause positive changes in the nervous system, and these changes may have a direct effect on cognitive ability," Emery said.
"Listening to music may influence cognitive function through different pathways in the brain. The combination of music and exercise may stimulate and increase cognitive arousal while helping to organize cognitive output."
Emery said he now wanted to test people using music of their own choice.
"We used 'The Four Seasons' because of its moderate tempo and positive effects on medical patients in previous research," Emery said. "But given the range of music preferences among patients, it's especially important to evaluate the influence of other types of music on cognitive outcomes."
如果听音乐能使人变得更聪明，锻炼能增强大脑功能的话，那么边锻炼边听音乐真的能提高智力吗？一些研究人员对此表示肯定。
俄亥俄州立大学的研究人员发现，参加实验的志愿者们一边在脚踏车上锻炼，一边听意大利作曲家维瓦尔第的《四季》时，他们在语言能力测试中的表现要比他们不听音乐时更好。
此项研究的负责人、心理学家查尔斯·埃莫里说：“有证据表明，身体锻炼能够提高冠心病患者的认知能力。”
“而听音乐被认为能够提高智力。我们想把两者的结果结合起来。”埃莫里补充说。
在最新的一期《心肺》杂志中，埃莫里和他的同事们撰文称，他们对33名正在接受心脏康复治疗的患者进行了研究。这些患者接受过心脏搭桥手术、血管成形术或其它治疗动脉阻塞手术。
这些志愿者称，无论听不听音乐，他们在进行身体锻炼后，在情绪和心理上都感觉更好。但是他们边听音乐边在脚踏车上锻炼后，语言流利测试成绩比不听音乐时高出一倍。
埃莫里说：“锻炼看来能使神经系统发生积极的变化，而这些变化可能会对认知能力产生直接的影响。”
“听音乐可以通过大脑中的不同路径影响认知功能。如果把听音乐和锻炼身体结合起来可以在组织认知输出的同时增强对认知的刺激。”
埃莫里说，他现在想要测试一下那些自己选择音乐的人。
“我们选择《四季》是因为它的节拍适度，而且在以前的研究中对病人曾产生过积极的作用。但是倘若患者对音乐种类有自己的偏好，那么评价其他类型的音乐是否会影响认知结果也尤为重要。”埃莫里说。
