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.