Mozart instead of a pill?
March 23rd 2008 03:53
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From:The Independent on Sunday. Roger Dobson London UK
Medical notes: the healing power of the Mozart effect
Epilepsy
Research is showing that Mozart may reduce brain activity involved in epilepsy. A study in Chicago found that 23 of 29 patients had a significant drop in the kind of brain activity that is followed by a seizure. In one case, this activity dropped by more than 60 per cent while the patient was in a coma. One theory is that the effects may be due to the repetitiveness of melody and periodicity – wave forms that are repeated regularly.
Intelligence
The first Mozart-effect study showed that spatial reasoning and intelligence increased temporarily after listening to the K448 piano sonata, compared to relaxation tapes or silence. The results of the California University study show that 10 minutes of Mozart's music improved performance on paper-cutting and folding tests. Spatial IQ went up by eight to nine points. The same team found that rats negotiated a maze faster after hearing K448. Other researchers found that children taught a keyboard instrument for six months performed better on spatial tests. The kind of effect found by the California researchers has been shown by some teams, but others have found no effect.
Eye tests
Eye tests are performed more accurately when carried out with Mozart playing in the background. Results were significantly better, with fewer false positive or negative results and greater concentration and accuracy. In the research, 60 men and women either listened to music for 10 minutes, or sat in silence before carrying out the tests. The music was Mozart's Sonata for Two Pianos in D major. One theory is that the music helps to speed up the processing and interpretation of information coming from the eye to the brain. "Listening to Mozart seems to improve performance," say the researchers from the School of Medical Sciences in Sao Paulo.
Heart rate
Mozart soothes the beating heart. A study at Oberwalliser Hospital in Switzerland on the effects of music on heart-rate variability in 23 adolescents showed that listening to music may be helpful in heart disease. The study showed that listening to Mozart or Bach resulted in reductions of heart rate and variability.
Stress
Anecdotal evidence has suggested that listening to Mozart may ease stress in newborn babies. Newborns at the Kosice-Saca hospital in Slovakia are played his music to help them get over the trauma of birth. Now, doctors at Weill Medical College of Cornell University are running a clinical trial to see whether Mozart's music can reduce stress, heart rate and motor activity in premature babies. Mozart is played through a small speaker in the baby's incubator; a monitoring device will record movement, while a video camera will capture the infants' reactions to the music.
Fish
The latest Mozart research is not on humans, but on carp. Researchers at the Agricultural University of Athens played Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik to carp to test its relaxing and antidepressant effects. The music was played underwater to carp for 30 minutes at time. The results show that the fish exposed to music grew more and, in some cases, had less stress.
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I will try this next time I have insomnia and see where it leads, thanks for sharing KTz.
(I guess at first glance, you'd have to be an x-spurt to know when a fish is stressed, although once yu get to know then, it's easy...*wink*
Lilla ...
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