Classical music can help us perform better in exams, study reveals

Listening to classical music during lectures and throughout the night while sleeping may help us perform better in big exams, a new study suggests. US economics students who listened to Beethoven and Chopin during a lecture and again later in the night performed 18 per cent higher in exams the next day. This compared with a control group of students who were in the same lecture but slept that night with white noise on in the background. Researchers say that classical music activated a process called'targeted memory reactivation' (TMR), when the music stimulates the brain to consolidate memories. The study suggests classical music is the key to strengthening existing memories of lectures during sleep and, as a result, doing better in exams.