More about Mozart

Scientists argued over whether the phenomenon had a relatively simple explanation, such as just improving a person's mood, or if the effect was tied to a unique quality of the Mozart's compositions. One study reported that the particular rhythmic qualities of Mozart's music mimic some rhythmic cycles occurring in human brains.
Now Rauscher and her collaborator Hong Hua Li, a geneticist at Stanford University in California, think they have found the molecular basis of the Mozart effect. Their study used rats, which, like humans, perform better on learning and memory tests after listening to the sonata.
The researchers found that these smarter rats had increased gene expression of BDNF, a neural growth factor, CREB, a learning and memory compound, and synapsin I, a synaptic growth protein, in their hippocampus, as compared to control rats who had listened to equivalent amounts of white noise.

Molecular Basis for Mozart Effect Revealed!

This article appeared in 2004: 15:10 23 April 2004
NewScientist.com news service
Emily Singer, San Francisco

New research has revealed a molecular basis for the "Mozart effect" - the observation that a brief stint of Mozart, but not other music, may improve learning and memory.
Rats that heard a Mozart sonata expressed higher levels of several genes involved in stimulating and changing the connections between brain cells, the study showed. The team, including the researcher who first proposed the Mozart effect, hope the results will help them design music therapy treatments for people suffering from neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's.
The Mozart effect first came to light in a 1993 paper in Nature (vol 365, p 611), when Fran Rauscher, a neuroscientist at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, US, and colleagues showed that college students who listened to Mozart's Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major for 10 minutes performed better on a spatial reasoning test than students who listened to new age music or nothing at all.
The findings sparked excitement from the general public - specially designed Mozart CDs leapt up the music charts - and some scepticism from the scientific community.

Have you tried playing Mozart yet?

After my last post, many people emailed me to say that they really wanted to try using Mozart for increased concentration when doing tasks like homework, balancing a checkbook, working on taxes, etc. Many people asked which Mozart pieces were best. According to Dr. Alfred Tomatis, who first observed this cause and effect phenomenon back in the 1950's, the five violin concertos of Mozart are the very best pieces to listen to if you want to experience increased concentration.

For true healing effects you would want to listen to the Mozart that relaxes and calms you best. I would suggest the slow movements of not only the violin concertos but also slow movements of piano sonatas, string quartets and symphonies. There is a beautiful solo piano piece called "Adagio in b minor" that is absolutely exquisite. I would recommend getting a recording of that just for pure relaxation! I may make a recording of it myself!

What is it about Mozart's Music?

People are always asking me what it is about Mozart's music that is healing or helpful. Why isn't Haydn's music as powerful, or Beethoven's or Schubert's? Actually, I believe that any great composer's music can be healing, keeping in mind our definition of healing. Remember that we define healing as "amelioration of symptoms." Healing is not synonomous with curing!

Starting back in the 1950's, a brilliant French ear, nose, and throat doctor and surgeon with a great love of music, starting treating many opera singers with various physical symptoms that prevented them from singing like they had. This man was Dr. Alfred Tomatis. One of his statements that was someone novel at the time was "the human voice cannot reproduce sounds that it cannot hear." Dr. Tomatis looked at hearing deficiencies that the patients exhibited and discovered that when the patients listened to Mozart's five violin concertos, in particular, that their hearing improved. Dr. Tomatis determined that these particular pieces of Mozart had the perfect range of pitches and the perfect timbre or tone color to heal the voice and the individual.

In the 1990's research was being conducted at the University of California at Irvine in which Mozart's Sonata in D Major for two pianos was being played for high school students about to take the SAT. In each trial, the students were divided into three groups. One group listened to their favorite pop music for 30 minutes before the test, one listened to nothing and one group listened to the Mozart piece. Repeatedly, the students who listened to the Mozart piece scored higher.

These two phenomena constributed to the idea of a "Mozart Effect." I personally believe that the media has greatly exaggerated the power of Mozart however I do believe that Mozart's music is healing, inspiring, beautiful, uplifting and amazing. Many people believe that Mozart was the greatest composer of all time because in his brief life, he was a master of every genre he attempted and he attempted all of the genres of his time: sonatas, symphonies, chamber music, opera, and choral music. If you haven't listened to any Mozart lately, treat yourself to some tonight!

Why Mozart?

There's been a lot in the popular press over the last 10 years about Mozart and his music as tools for healing, improving test scores, and raising one's IQ. I am very familiar with the reasons and circumstances that led to all of the hype, but is it really hype or is there substance to it?

I would like for this blog to be an investigation into the healing properties of Mozart's music in particular but all the other positive properties of Mozart's music.

Please post your own comments often!