In the middle of the month of Ramadan, we discovered that listening to the Quran could be good not only on a spiritual level, but on a cognitive level. This can be read in an article published in Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences (2014).
We are well aware of the positive effects of music on performance in learning tasks or even in mathematics, but there are not many studies that have analyzed the potential benefits of listening to the Qur’an as a rhythmic recitation on mental functions.
This new study once again confirms that there are various ways to improve memory and other cognitive functions, and this may have an impact on better academic performance and better learning abilities.
Atefeh Hojjati and her team of collaborators chose a group of 12-year-old girls from various schools in the city of Tehran and passed two tests that are normally used to assess attentional amplitude (Digit Span) and working memory (Sequences of Letters and Numbers).
They were randomly assigned to one of two groups: the experimental group, who after the initial evaluation would listen to the Qur’an recited for 15 minutes through headphones; or the control group, who did not do any other activity during those 15 minutes. After that quarter of an hour, the tests were applied again.
When analyzing the data, they found that the two groups had obtained different results in the second evaluation. The group that listened to the Quran improved statistically significantly in both tests , while the control group did not improve in either of them.
Although other studies are needed to replicate these results, it seems that this could be one more way to promote mental abilities, at least in children.
Marisa Fernández, Senior Neuropsychologist, Unobrain
