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Music Therapy... A Dose of Mozart a Day
Keeps The Doctor Away
A new research from Tel Aviv University finds that premature
babies who are exposed to music by 18th-century composer
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart gain weight faster...
And therefore become stronger than those who don't.
A new study conducted at the Tel Aviv Medical Center affiliated with
Tel Aviv University's Sackler School of Medicine has found that pre-term
infants exposed to thirty minutes of Mozart's music in one session, once
per day expend less energy, and therefore need fewer calories to grow
rapidly, than when they are not "listening" to the music. "It's not exactly
clear how the music is affecting them, but it makes them calmer and less
likely to be agitated," reported the researchers.
In the study, the team measured the physiological effects of music by
Mozart played to pre-term newborns for 30 minutes. After the music was
played, the researchers measured infants' energy expenditure again, and
compared it to the amount of energy expended when the baby was at rest.
After "hearing" the music, the infant expended less energy, a process that
can lead to faster weight gain.
A "musical environment" for premature infants...
When it comes to preemies, one of the main priorities for doctors is to get
the baby up to an acceptable body weight so he or she can be sent home.
At the hospital, preterm babies may be exposed to infections and other
illnesses, and a healthy body weight keeps them immune to other problems
in the future.
While the scientists are not sure what determined the response, they offer
an interesting hypothesis. "The repetitive melodies in Mozart's music may
be affecting the organizational centers of the brain's cortex," they say.
"Unlike Beethoven, Bach or Bartok, Mozart's music is composed with a
melody that is highly repetitive. This might be the musical explanation. For
the scientific one, more investigation is needed."
The study came about through an international project led by the U.S.-
based consortium NIDCAP, whose goal is to create a set of standard
practices to optimize the health and well-being of neonates. A number
of environmental effects, such as tactile stimulation and room lighting,
are already known to affect the survival and health of these very
susceptible babies.
The study is the first to quantify the effect of music, specifically Mozart,
on newly born children. "Medical practitioners are aware that by changing
the environment, we can create a whole new treatment paradigm for babies
in neonatal care," the researchers explained. "That's our main goal, to improve
their quality of life.
"The point of our research is to quantify these effects so that standards and
care-guides can be developed. We still don't know the long-term effects of the
music, or if other kinds of music will work just as well."
Music for boosting brain power... Is music "brain food"
The research is based on 1993 study showing that college students improved
their IQs by listening to a Mozart sonata for 10 minutes. When the study was
reported, parents started buying Mozart CDs, hoping to boost their children's
brainpower.
Soon the researchers will start exploring different kinds of music to see if they
can measure any similar effects on premature babies.
The researchers will also survey mothers to discover what kind of music their
babies were exposed to in the womb. They will then expose other neonates to
the same music to scientifically verify any effect. The pieces to be played to the
preterm babies will include ethnic music, rap music, pop music, and, of course,
classical music like Bach, Beethoven and Mozart
.
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