The Mozart effect[an important technique for improving your memory]

  
Society has often hoped for a quick and simple way of increasing intelligence. In 1993, such a possibility was offered by researchers at the University of California, Irvine. Rauscher, Shaw, and Ky (1993) found that a group of 36 college undergraduates improved their spatial-temporal intelligence (the ability to mentally manipulate objects in three-dimensional space) after listening to 10 minutes of a Mozart sonata. Results showed that student' IQ scores improved by 8-9 points and lasted for 10-15 minutes. The findings, which were later dubbed the Mozart effect, have spawned both criticism and support for music's ability to alter intelligence.

The original Mozart effect researchers based their rationale on the trion model of the cerebral cortex. The cerebral cortex is a part of the brain that helps with, among other things, motor control, speech, memory, and auditory reception. The trion model, developed by Shaw, showed that similar neural firings patterns occur when listening to music and performing spatial tasks (Leng & Shaw, 1991). Rauscher and Shaw hypothesized that listening to certain types of complex music may "warm-up" neural transmitters inside the cerebral cortex and thereby improve spatial performance.
Other researchers have been wary of the findings presented by Rauscher and colleagues. Instead, Mozart effect critics have claimed the spatial intelligence increase to be nothing more than a shift in participants' arousal, which then produces better spatial test scores (Steele, 2000; Thompson, Schellenberg, & Husain, 2001). In essence, their argument is that listening to Mozart's music causes either an increase or decrease in someone's arousal and mood to a level that is more optimal for testing. Personal preference for the music heard in Mozart effect testing may also be a possible influence on increasing spatial test scores (Nantais & Schellenberg, 1999).
The majority of Mozart effect research has been conducted on college undergraduates. Although some media outlets have claimed Mozart's music improves a baby's intelligence, as yet, no test involving the possible influence of this music on infants' spatial intelligence has been conducted. The youngest group of participants that have been tested had a mean age of 11.95 years (McKelvie & Low, 2002). Currently, no testing has been done on older adults, adolescents, or other developmental levels.
The music used in the first Mozart effect experiment was

Mozart's Sonata for two pianos in D-major, K.448.
Mozart, minimalist music by Philip Glass
The dance group Aqua, and pieces by Albinoni and Schubert
The music of Yanni the jazz master