Of Mice and Music

Usually when Michael and I get in my car to go somewhere and I've got a CD in, the conversation inevitably goes like this:

Michael: "Who's this?"
Me: "It's….(something more mellow than Alice In Chains, Metalica, Tool, etc.)
Michael: "Oh." Pause. "Can I change it?"

And he reaches for my Evanescence CD because I don't have anything harder (or the soundtrack that has Low Rider on it, for which he has a soft spot).

Even though he does have a good range of music tastes, he is quite fond of metal. When I married him, I considered him my metal-head husband. Not an unfair assessment, even considering that a month after we were married, Prince's Raspberry Beret came on the radio - and he sang along with every word. I was floored.

When Wyckoff stopped in town for a visit a little while ago he told us about a certain study involving music and mice. Just a cursory internet search will find that this has been done a number of times by different people, and mostly dealing with the correlation between music and education.

Researchers set up one group of mice who listen to classical music on a continual basis. Then they set up another group of mice who listen to heavy metal or hard rock on a continual basis. The mice in the classical music environment showed an unmistakeable improvement in their cognitive skills; basically they get along with eachother, they mate, they run the mazes faster and better than mice in other groups.

The mice in the heavy metal environment, however, became more aggressive and in a short period of time, ATE EACHOTHER.

Not a little bit creepy. Sometimes I wonder if I should be worried about my metal-head husband. But then I picture that raspberry beret, and I think, 'yes, be very afraid.'