Research Updates
Here at Bigger Better Brains we believe that through educating yourself, you can then educate and affect positive change in your community.
With all of the research in the field of neuromusical science, our BBB Research section serves as a content hub for you. We regularly share findings and break down the latest research to educate and inspire discussion. We hope you enjoy this page on our website and share BBB news with your colleagues, parents and students.
Can Harmony Help Students Connect?
Can harmony do more than shape sound, can it shape connection? New research suggests predictable harmony may help align not just music, but people.
Is recorded music just as good as live music?
Research suggests it’s not that simple. Live music creates stronger emotional and brain responses, especially when there’s real-time interaction between performer and listener. If that’s the case, it raises an important question, how often are students actively involved in shaping music in the moment in your classroom?
Depressed? Classical music could be the unexpected remedy!
Music has always been a go-to for lifting our spirits, but did you know classical music might take it a step further by actually helping treat depression?
The surprising link between music and cognitive health in older adults
Can music play a role in healthy aging? According to new research, the answer might be yes.
Can Music Sync Our Heartbeats? This Study Says Yes!
Imagine sitting in a concert hall, completely immersed in the music, when something incredible happens—you and the people around you begin to breathe and feel the same rhythm.
Challenge your brain with different music!
This study looks at how our brains engaged with familiar and unfamiliar music. Turns out our brains sustains engagement with music that is unfamiliar.
Listening to music we prefer gets us more connected to ourselves
Why do we prefer different types of music? Why isn’t there just one type of music that everyone likes? The answer may be that we only get connected with our true selves, the part of our brain that is full of our thoughts, through music that we choose for ourselves.
How listening to music can have psychological benefits during lockdown
This article gives us an excellent summary of the ways that music listening can have physiological benefits, and it is a great reminder of the ways we can use music to improve our wellbeing.
Listening to music while exercising activates specific brain region
Have you been listening to music as you get your daily exercise in during COVID-19? Have you found yourself changing your music choices during this troubling time, maybe to lighten your mood or help you focus more on your exercise and less on these uncertain times?
Listening to self-selected happy music can provide mood-repair and a sense of connection
Researchers have wondered if “listening to comforting music, as a response to a social loss experience, provides a sense of empathic company as indicated by reduced loneliness and heightened empathy.”
Music synchronises our brain!
There is a theory called the theory of familiarity in music. It is, as described at the end of this article, the idea of an inverted U.
What is working memory and how might music learning help?
This article is a great explanation of working memory and the different ways it is affected by disorders such as dyslexia, auditory processing disorder and ADHD.
Perform at Your Best. Protect Your Energy. Maximise Your Impact.
Why do some music teachers thrive while others constantly feel like they’re running on empty?
The Peak Performance Toolkit helps you understand one of the greatest strengths of music educators, the powerful cognitive skills developed through learning music, and how to use those strengths without pushing them beyond their limits. Rather than focusing on wellbeing alone, this toolkit explores how music teachers can maximise their professional performance by recognising when their natural cognitive advantages are working for them, and when they may be contributing to overload.
Grounded in the latest research on executive functions, attention, planning, cognitive flexibility and working memory, this toolkit gives you practical tools to help you perform at your professional best.
What’s Included
10 Page Peak Performance Assessment
A structured self-assessment designed to help you identify how effectively you are using your cognitive strengths, where overload may be developing, and which areas deserve your attention.
25 Page Peak Performance Workbook
A comprehensive workbook packed with practical strategies, reflection activities and evidence-informed guidance to help you maximise your performance while protecting your cognitive capacity.
8 x Peak Performance Posters
Research-informed posters that reinforce the key concepts from the toolkit and provide practical reminders you can display in your office, staffroom or classroom.
6 x Music Teacher Appreciation Posters
A collection of inspiring posters celebrating the professionalism, expertise and impact of music educators, helping create a positive culture within your music department.
What It Helps You Do
Understand the cognitive strengths developed through music learning
Recognise the early signs of cognitive overload before performance declines
Improve attention, planning, working memory and cognitive flexibility
Maximise your professional effectiveness without relying on longer hours
Build sustainable work habits that support long-term success
Create a culture of high performance within your music team
How to Use It
Complete the Peak Performance Assessment to identify your current strengths and areas for growth, then work through the workbook at your own pace. Display the posters as visual reminders of key strategies, and use the appreciation posters to celebrate your team and reinforce a culture of professional excellence. The toolkit is equally valuable for individual reflection or as part of department professional learning.
Why It Works
Music teachers often possess extraordinary cognitive strengths that allow them to manage complexity, multitask and solve problems with remarkable efficiency. The challenge is that these same strengths can mask overload until performance begins to decline. The Peak Performance Toolkit helps you understand how your brain works, recognise your natural tendencies, and develop practical strategies that allow you to perform at your highest level, more consistently and more sustainably.
Equip yourself with the Peak Performance Toolkit and discover how understanding your cognitive strengths can transform the way you teach, lead and perform professionally.
Love this toolkit? Get one every month with BBB+
If this toolkit is valuable to you, imagine receiving one like it every month. BBB+ members receive a brand-new advocacy toolkit monthly, plus access to over 500 evidence-based resources designed to strengthen music programs.
For less than the cost of two standalone toolkits, you can unlock a full year of strategic support for your music program.
Click here to learn more about BBB+ and start your membership today.