A medical maestro: Can Mozart treat heart disease

Listening to Mozart can reduce stress, boost intelligence and treat heart disease. Doctors could soon be prescribing his music for epilepsy too, says Roger Dobson
A Mozart effect has also been linked to behavioural and other changes, including stress, depression, arthritis pain, foetal development and performance on eye-test charts. Every treatment had been tried for the patient's severe epilepsy. Seven epileptic drugs, and brain surgery, had failed to have any effect on the seizures and fits he had suffered daily for much of his 46 years. With no sign of any improvement, and with tests confirming a deterioration in learning skills and memory over a nine-year period, surgeons decided that he should be assessed for further brain surgery.
But, shortly before the patient was scheduled for tests, there was a remarkable improvement. The gelastic (or laughing) fits he had suffered up to six times day subsided. Instead of uncontrollable laughing fits, they became six- to nine-second-long involuntary smiles that he was able to control. He had also been having about seven generalised seizures a month, but he had had none in three months.
When doctors investigated, they found that the transformation was down to a lifestyle change. He had started to listen to Mozart for 45 minutes a day.
The case of the 46-year-old man, being reported by doctors at the Institute of Neurology in London, is the latest success put down to the "Mozart effect", which has been linked to benefits as diverse as improved mathematical skills, enhanced foetal brain development, reduced stress, improved learning and IQ, less arthritis pain, and improved performance on eye tests. Rats exposed to the music also perform better in maze tests, while fish appeared to be happier and healthier.
The original Mozart-effect research looked at the effects of the K448 piano sonata on the performance of spatial IQ tests. Volunteers had to visualise correctly the unfolded shape of a piece of paper that had been folded several times. The performance of those who listened to the Mozart was quantified as being equivalent to a temporary increase in IQ of eight to nine points.
One theory put forward to explain this performance is that areas of the brain involved in processing music overlap those concerned with spatial perception, which become stimulated, or warmed up. But, while some researchers found similar effects, others found none or proposed countertheories, including the suggestion that the increased performance is simply due to people becoming more aroused when exposed to music. As a result, the concept of a Mozart effect has become mired in controversy.
A Mozart effect has also been linked to behavioural and other changes, including stress, depression, arthritis pain, foetal development and performance on eye-test charts. And it is now attracting attention as a potential treatment for epilepsy.
Some research offers clues as to just why this composer's music seems to have such an effect. It suggests also that the music does not have to be appreciated, or consciously listened to, to have an effect. Only a small number of studies have been carried out on the Mozart effect and epilepsy, but most of them show a beneficial effect. Neurologists at the University of Illinois found that a child with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, a rare form of epilepsy, had fewer seizures while exposed to K448 for 10 minutes every hour. A second study at the centre found changes in brain activity in 23 out of 29 cases when Mozart was played. In some cases the changes occurred during coma, suggesting that any effect is not conditional on the music being appreciated; it appears to have some kind of direct effect.
But what could it be? According to Dr John Hughes of the University of Illinois, it may be that Mozart's complex music has an effect similar to pulsating electrical stimulation, bringing order to malfunctioning nerve cells in the brain. "The architecture of Mozart's music is brilliantly complex, but also highly organised. The organisation of the cerebral cortex would seem to resonate with the architecture of Mozart's music to normalise any sub-optimal functioning of the cortex," he says.
"Part of his genius is to repeat themes in a way that was not boring, but instead was engaging to the listener. A theme would be repeated, not necessarily with the same notes but with different notes and the same interval. Repetition and periodic changes are found in all aspects of our brain function and also of our bodily functions."
It's suggested that the same effect isn't seen with other composers because this technique of musical construction is unique to Mozart, who repeats melodic lines much more often than composers such as Bach, Beethoven, Wagner and Chopin do. According to epilepsy researchers, it is this repetition, acting rather like repetitive electrical stimulation, which may be responsible for the effects being seen.
And some research does suggest that electrical stimulation can work in epilepsy. In a study of nine patients implanted with electrodes, four had a 95 per cent reduction in seizures, and four a 50 to 70 per cent drop. "Electrical stimulation provides improved seizure outcome," say researchers from Hospital General de Mexico. Epilepsy researchers believe it's time for more research: "We report a remarkable improvement in seizure control in one patient with refractory gelastic epilepsy and suggest that it is now time to study further the Mozart effect," say the team from the Institute of Neurology in London.
Increasing research into epilepsy may also trigger more study on other aspects of the Mozart effect. Could the same repetitive stimulation in much of Mozart's work account for the reported changes in behaviour and intellectual performance? The final verdict on the Mozart effect may soon be given, but whether it will be a prelude or a requiem remains to be seen.
Listen to a clip from Mozart's Sonata K448 - courtesy of EMI
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.

New Mozart portrait found!

A British music scholar says he has identified a previously unknown portrait of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart that could be worth millions.The 19-by-14-inch oil painting shows the profile of a man in a bright red jacket. Cliff Eisen said Friday that it is only the fourth known authentic portrait of Mozart from his time when the composer was at his professional height in Vienna, Austria.
"This is arguably the most important Mozart portrait to be discovered since the composer's death in 1791," Eisen said in a statement that appeared on the Web site of King's College London, where he teaches music.King's College said the portrait was probably painted by Joseph Hickel, who was a painter at Austria's imperial court. Hickel gave the portrait to Mozart in return for the composition of a serenade for a member of Hickel's family, the college said.Eisen said he was able to authenticate the portrait by comparing it against auction records, archival documents and a letter written by composer to his father in 1782.The description in Mozart's letter matched the portrait down to the buttons, Eisen said.The portrait could be worth several million dollars, the university said.The painting passed to the family of Johann Lorenz Hagenauer, a close friend of the Mozarts. It was purchased by an American collector in 2005.King's College said the collector was unaware of the painting's significance until its connection to the Hagenauer family was established by Daniel Leeson of Los Altos, Calif. (AP)

Le Mozart des Pickpockets

Tonight I'm watching the Oscars. I was fascinated to hear that a movie called "Le Mozart des ickpockets" had been nominated. I take it to mean that here Mozart's name is being used to signify genius and a child prodigy. Here's what the web says about it: I saw this movie at a special showing by a local film society of all the Oscar nominated Live Action Shorts about a week or so before the Oscars were announced. It's also currently available to watch online at Atom Films. However, I think it has a very small chance to win this year's Oscar because two other films, AT NIGHT and TANGHI ARGENTINI are better films. Now this ISN'T to say THE MOZART OF PICKPOCKETS is bad or didn't deserve the nomination--it is an exceptional and charming little comedy.The film starts with a group of pickpockets working the streets of Paris. Eventually, 3 of the 5 are caught--leaving the two dumbest crooks alone. At the same time, a mute little boy just appears from no where and follows the crooks home. Not knowing what to do, they decide to keep him.The film has so many cute twists and the ending is wonderful. However, I don't want to say more because it might spoil the suspense. Watch this one--it's a nice little film.

Court Recruits Mozart to deter trouble

Well, I'm sure that you know that Mozarts 252nd birthday was last Sunday and I hope you celebrated appropriately! Mozart's music is possibly the most popular classical music in the world, but did you know it is also being used to deter crime?? A reported for the Sacramento Bee, Christina Jewett, wrote recently that several locations in Sacramenta are blasting a Mozart violin concerto through loudspeakers when they see cars in their parking lots with people just sitting there, loitering and possibly "looking for trouble." Store managers say that when they crank up the classical music, the hoodlums quickly leave! What do YOU think of that kind of strategy?

Happy New Year, Friends of Mozart!!

Happy New Year to all the readers of this blog about Mozart and why his music is uniquely healing. First I'd like to mention that Mozart's 302 birthday is coming up on January 27th. Don't you think that it's rather amazing that music written nearly 300 years ago is as fresh, sparkling and entertaining today as it was then? That's why we call it "classic"...it never grows old. I have a feeling that 1000 years from now, if planet earth is still around, people will be enjoying the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. If you haven't heard any Mozart
today, please go to www.HealingMusicEnterprises.com/products/healing_with_music/mozart_healing_music.html
Have a happy, healthy, peace-filled holiday!

Will Dr. Cash become an MT-BC?

On my last post here, I recounted the evening that I spent with the kind and encouraging men and women of the American Music Therapy Association. They were pretty much unanimous in the belief that I could get the Music Therapist-Board Certified credential with no trouble at all and told me that it would really help me to get more exposure for the work that I do and give me more credibility. Tomorrow I'm going down to the University of Louisville School of Music to talk with Dr. BarbaraWheeler who is Chairman of Music Therapy. Keep your fingers crossed for me. It would require me to pull a lot of paperwork together, but I think it's probably worth it. I'll let you know how it goes!

Music Therapy and Mozart

Tonight I had the extreme pleasure of going to a reception that was a part of the American Music Therapy Associations national conference in Louisville. Many people assume that I am a music therapist but actually I am a clinical musicologist, a concert pianist and a clinical social worker. The music therapists have asked me to go through the credentialing process which for me would consist of an equivalency program. They explained to me that I would have benefits such as the support of their organization and hundreds of experienced music therapists who could greatly enrich the world that I do. I must admit they made it very tempting and I am going to consider it! Thanks so much especially to Lisa Jackert and Judith Pinkerton! I really did enjoy it and appreciate all of the good advice!

Music and Grief: Why Mozart?

Have you lost a loved one lately? Yesterday I lost my beloved dog Jack. He was almost 14 years and was as much a part of the family as any human member. Today, I have found myself listening to the Mozart Requiem and feel unbelievably comforted by it. The music of Mozart is simply the most beautiful music that has been written to date. Of course that's my opinion. I also love Bach, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Rachmaninoff, and Debussy, but Mozart is simply with equal. If you are grieving today I highly recommend the Mozart Requiem. It's helping me to get through my loss.

Does Your Brain Like Mozart?

No doubt about it! Mozart's music has been well-researched. And what it shows is that more people respond positively to Mozart's music that any other music! Why? Well, my opinion would be that it's because Mozart's music is melodious, varied and yet predictable in a way that promotes calmness and comfort. People who are tense and anxious and want to relax, like to listen to music that is beautiful but not too complex or bombastic or dissonant. Mozart's music definitely fills the bill on that, although there are specific pieces and movements that would definitely be an exception. Parts of the Requiem and Don Giovanni are quite emotional, loud, and not conducive to relaxation. Will any of it raise your I.Q. or make you smarter? No!

Is the Mozart Effect real?

As former student of Don Campbell who coined the phrase "The Mozart Effect" I often am put in the position of defending "The Mozart Effect." I have discovered that "Wikipdia" often has really good information on a wide variety of topics, so with that in mind, I offer you this:

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Mozart effect refers to disputed scientific studies that test a theory suggesting that classical music increases brain activity more positively than other kinds of music,[1] and that listening to certain kinds of complex music may induce a short-lived (fifteen minute) improvement in the performance of certain kinds of mental tasks known as "spatio-temporal reasoning".[2] [3] Two pieces of Mozart's music; Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major (K. 448) and Piano Concerto No. 23 (K. 488), were found to have this effect. Later research also suggested that K. 448 can reduce the number of seizures in people with epilepsy.[4]

Mozart in the news!

There is no question that music lessons for young children give them an undeniable advantage over peers who have not studied an instrument and the basics of music making, but do you know how much research has been done that bears this out? The article excerpted below is from London's "The Telegraph" from September 9th of 2006. Enjoy!

Researchers claim to have found the first evidence of musical training being linked to greater attention skills.

After a year, musically trained children performed better in a memory test that is correlated with general intelligence skills such as literacy, verbal memory, mathematics and IQ, reports a Canadian team.
The researchers add that their results will be welcomed by teachers and parents who feel that music should be part of the pre-school and primary school curriculum.
The findings, which are backed by brain scans, are published today in the journal Brain by McMaster University's Institute for Music and the Mind in Hamilton, Ontario, and the Rotman Research Institute of the University of Toronto.
"While the greater improvement that we found in musical tasks is not surprising after one year of music lessons, greater improvement on a non-musical memory task in children taking music lessons is very interesting," said Prof Laurel Trainor, of the McMaster Institute "Furthermore, our research shows that this occurs in children as young as four years of age."
Prof Trainor, who led the study with Takako Fujioka, compared 12 children aged four to six years over the course of a year: six of the children (five boys, one girl) had just started a Suzuki music school; the other six (four boys, two girls) had no music lessons outside school.
The researchers chose the Suzuki method to ensure the children were all trained in the same way, were not selected according to their initial musical talent, and had similar family support.

Can Mozart improve an eye exam?

Is it possible that listening to 10 minutes of Mozart's Sonata in D Major for two pianos, could improve the results of an eye check? Read a little bit of this article and decide for yourself:
Listening to Mozart helps patients perform more reliably in sight tests, a study has found.
The automated perimetry test checks the peripheral vision of patients with glaucoma or neurological conditions.

Brazilian researchers let 30 patients listen to 10 minutes of Mozart's sonata for two pianos, while another 30 prepared in silence.

The research, in the British Journal of Ophthalmology, found the music improved performance in the tests.
The "Mozart effect" has already been associated with improved mathematical skills, enhanced foetal brain development and improved learning among college students.
The team, from the Santa Casa of Sao Paulo, studied patients who had not taken the AP test before.
In the test, a white shape is projected onto a white background, and the person has to press a button when they can see the shape.
'Priming' the brain
The patients either listened to 10 minutes of music or sat in silence before their tests.
Both groups included a similar mix of men and women and ethnic groups.
The group who listened to music were able to focus better and perform more reliably in tests.
However, in this instance, the Mozart effect was only seen to last around 10 minutes.
Writing in the British Journal of Ophthalmology, the researchers, led by Vanessa Macedo, said there was already evidence that the "Mozart effect" improved spatial-temporal reasoning.
They suggest that the effect may also aid the interpretation of information coming from the eye to the brain.
"We could assume that listening to Mozart can either 'prime' the pathways responsible for visual images, possibly shape or colour or improve intention to some extent."
'Enhancing reliability'
The researchers say there is a possibility that it was not the music which caused the improved performance, and it could have been anxiety in the group left in silence which affected their test results.
But they add that 10 minutes is a relatively short period for anxiety to develop to such an extent that it damaged performance, and that their findings fitted in to previous studies showing the "Mozart effect" in other areas.
However Dr Robert Stamper, of the University of California, San Francisco, department of ophthalmology, said: "Despite a large body of evidence that Mozart's music may have a positive influence on a variety of performance tasks, this study does not prove that it was the Mozart that was the causative factor.
"It could have been the headphones, Mozart music in general, or the specific piece that they played."
But he added: "The authors are to be congratulated for proposing a simple, inexpensive, non-invasive procedure for enhancing reliability of one of our least reliable testing methods.
"If some of the questions about the study could be answered satisfactorily, this improvement in our visual field testing process would be most welcome."
And Ian Murdoch, consultant Ophthalmic surgeon at Moorfields Eye Hospital, warned there was potential bias in the study.
"An example of how this might matter might be that only music lovers were selected for the music listening group.
"This has more than just the possibility that they felt more buoyed up by Mozart; there is clear evidence that music prowess is linked to intelligence and thus may well be linked to field performance.
"It is tricky to make any conclusion other than it has a possible effect on medical students."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4920658.stm

Have you seen the Mozart garden?

So many people love Mozart's music and despite quite a bit of research that casts aspersions on Mozart's special healing or IQ-raising abilties. Recently I was looking up some information on the so-called "Mozart Effect" and I came across a picture of a beautiful garden in Austria where chamber music concerts of Mozart's music are held in the summer. Thought you might like to see this. Enjoy!

Is Mozart better than his contemporaries for healing?

Is Mozart better than his contemporaries for healing effects? Wow! That's a tough question that came my way recently. Needless to say it is not entirely an objective matter. Many musicologists, music historians, and performers believe that Mozart is the greatest composer that ever lived simply because Mozart was the master of every genre he attempted. No other composer wrote operas, symphonies, sonatas, and string quartets with equal ease. Some of his peers included Haydn, early Beethoven, his rival Salieri and many more. As of this moment I don't know of anyone who listens to these composers specifically for healing purposes. I could certainly be wrong about this. What do you think?

Why Mozart with babies?

This past week I was speaking at a hospital in New York and the subject was "The Importance ofMusic with Pregnancy, Preemies, and Newborns." The topic arose as to whether playing Mozart was better for unborn children than singing lullabies. My opinion, based on all the research I have read is that the mother singing lullabies or any soft, sweet songs is always the best. Every baby loves his own mother's voice the best because that is the voice that has been with him from the moment of conception. That voice is asociated with safety, security, and nurturing. Please pass this information on to someone you love!

Can Mozart help a pregnant woman?

I work a lot with pregnant women and they all want to know about the very best music to listen to during their pregnancy. Of course I always tell them that their voice singing to their unborn child is the best. The mother's voice is the one that baby hears first and most often while in utero and therefore that one that makes baby feel safe.

But what about Mozart? Well, many Marketers jumped in on the whole "Mozart Effect" media blitz and said that Mozart would make your baby smarter, happier, sleep better and all kinds of wonderful things. To my knowledge, no research has ever proven or even suggested that, so decide for yourself. Mozart certainly is not going to be bad for your baby but mother's voice softly crooning to baby is undoubtedly the best!

Mozart: Good for Weddings?

As you probably know by now, I was at a family wedding in Las Vegas this past week-end and was looking for evidence of healing music everywhere I went. Not surprisingly, the only really beautiful healing music I heard was at the actual wedding. The pre-wedding music as well as the wedding music was a medley of famous classical music pieces, including Mozart. Even though the wedding was outside and the weather was a little bit "shivery," the music was beautiful and relaxing. It did truly set the tone for a spiritual and long-lasting commitment. Mozart is always a good choice for weddings. Let me know if I can help you!

Did Mozart Have a Valentine?

http://www.healingmusicenterprises.com/listmailings/love/Valentine's%20Day%2020

Did Mozart celebrate Valentine's Day? Probably not. Mozart was a loving and romantic guy and it only takes a glance at his operas to know that love was on his mind. If you've seen the film "Amadeus" then you know that romance, intrigue, and beautiful music were an integral part of his mind and his life. I would recommend seeing "The Marriage of Figaro" or "Cosi Fan Tutte" if you want to experience a wonderful Valentine's Day treat! Let me know what you think!

P.S. You can cut and paste the link above to get a Valentine's Day ebook as my gift to you

Happy Birthday Dear Mozart

We've been talking about him, listening to his music and studying his music and it's effect on pople for at least a decade, but for the last year we've been celebrating his 250th birthday. After a glorious year of concerts and tributes of all kinds, it has come to an end today with the celebration of his 251st birthday!

Take a few minutes today or tomorrow and listen to some of this beautiful, melodic and sublime music

Mozart's Birthday is almost here!!

Well, we been talking about it for a full year now. Talking about what?? Mozart's birthday!! The whole year of 2006 we were celebrating Mozart's 250th birthday. On the 27th of January, two days from now, we'll celebrate his 251st birthday! There will probably not be quite as much celebration about one of his birthday again until 2051, when he will be 300 years old! Wow! And I'll be 103!! Even more amazing to me! But enough of this silliness. Mozart was truly one of the greatest musical geniuses that ever lived and his music makes my life so much richer and more enjoyable. Do you know the piano concertos, the violin concertos or any of his operas? If not, start there; they are so gorgeous and so exciting that you'll forget any troubles you might have. Go ahead and get yourself a new CD or some concert tickets and bathe yourself in some of the most sublime music ever!!