Whether it’s blaring out of dorm rooms, floating peacefully through the Memorial Union Browsing Library or spouting from the mouth of someone who can’t get the latest Backstreet Boys song out of their head, music permeates college life — even in studying.

Sugar Ray and Limp Bizkit compete with Mozart and Duke Ellington for various students’ soundtracks for studying.

But how does listening to Fred Durst rap about doing it all for the nookie compare with listening to one of Mozart’s piano sonatas? Does one type of music promote better studying than the other? Or is there no correlation at all?

“I think it affects different minds differently,” says Iowa State music professor Jeff Prater. “I don’t necessarily believe that music makes people smart, but smart people listen to music.”

With so many different musical tastes, Prater says it’s difficult to advise listening to a certain type of music that will promote more effective studying.

While it may be difficult to determine the effects of music on the mind, one study found a correlation between the two.

A 1993 experiment conducted at the University of California-Irvine found that students’ spatial-temporal abilities increased after listening to Mozart.

In other words, some students’ test scores improved significantly after listening to the music immediately before taking the test.

Record labels that distribute classical music albums have capitalized on this seemingly wonderful discovery, using the supposed benefits of Mozart-listening as a marketing tool.

“Mozart Makes You Smarter” is both the lofty claim and the title of a Sony Classical CD that is supposed to do exactly what the name implies — but it’s only a claim.

“Whether or not your test scores improve, you’ll definitely be lifted by the genius of Mozart’s music,” the Irvine experiment’s Web site states.

Although that statement may not correspond to the title of the record, there always will be skeptics.

“I’m not going to say that Mozart makes you smarter, and I’m not going to say that it doesn’t,” Prater explains.

The Irvine study also says increased abilities fade after about an hour.

However, Prater says participating in music performance does indeed increase brain size and cognitive ability by challenging the mind, a position that has been proven true in various studies.

Using Prater’s logic, Mozart really doesn’t have an edge over Limp Bizkit as far as studying is concerned.

Though classical music may or may not affect how well a student studies, in an experiment conducted at ISU, rock music was shown to be detrimental to certain types of learning.

The study, conceived of by a student of psychology professor Brad Bushman, dealt with the effect of rock ‘n’ roll on students’ abilities to solve math problems and their comprehension of verbal and reading material.

Bushman says the study found that rock music “interfered with math and verbal, but not reading.”

Embracing the music/studying combination, whether it scientifically improves brain function or not, the MU Browsing Library is not a place where you will hear Limp Bizkit’s “Faith.”

Instead, the study room features softer music, including Bach, Sting and the soundtrack from the motion picture “Philadelphia.”

“It kind of keeps you relaxed,” says Jodi Adams, Browsing Library employee and senior in psychology. “Soundtracks are really good — ones that are instrumental only.”

The Browsing Library operates on the idea that soft music helps to create an atmosphere that is conducive to studying. It keeps a request book so that patrons of the room can determine what they want to hear while studying.

Ultimately, the effect of music on studying depends on the person. Different types of music soothe some people and distract others, leading to the idea that there really is no “right” kind of music to listen to while studying.

Whether it actually increases brain activity or not, students will continue to use music as a studying tool.

“It helps me,” Adams says.

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From agriculture to zoology, there’s a song for all subjects

Believe it or not, certain pop songs can correspond to various subjects students are studying.

While learning about sex education and the work of Sigmund Freud, for example, perhaps the song that would run through a student’s mind would be Korn’s “A.D.I.D.A.S.,” which stands for “All Day I Dream About Sex.”

Here are some other possible connections:

Agriculture — “Cotton Eye Joe,” Rednex

Apparel Design — “Dress You Up,” Madonna

Art — “True Colors,” Cindy Lauper

Astronomy — “Intergalactic,” Beastie Boys

Biology — “Detachable Penis,” King Missile

Calculus — “Pocket Calculator,” Kraftwerk

Chemistry — “Particle Man,” They Might Be Giants

Economics — “Money,” Pink Floyd

Engineering — “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad”

English — “Paperback Writer,” The Beatles

History — “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” Billy Joel

Journalism — “Dirty Laundry,” Don Henley

Meteorology — “Blame It On The Rain,” Milli Vanilli

Sociology — “Getting to Know You,” Rogers and Hammerstein

Physical Education — “Let’s Get Physical,” Olivia Newton-John

Psychology — “Guilty Conscience,” Eminem

Religious Studies — “Dear God,” XTC

Zoology — “Let’s Do It,” Cole Porter

— Jon Dahlager