(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A Mozart sonata a day may be just what the doctor
ordered for preemies struggling to stay healthy.
A new study at Tel Aviv University found premature babies who listen to music by
the 18-century composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart may gain weight faster than
those who don't.
"It's not exactly clear how the music is affecting them, but it makes them
calmer and less likely to be agitated," study co-author Dr. Dror Mandel, of Tel
Aviv University's Sackler School of Medicine, was quoted as saying.
Researchers measured the physiological effects of music by Mozart played to
pre-term newborns for 30 minutes, once per day. They found after hearing the
music, the newborns expended less energy, and therefore needed fewer calories to
grow rapidly.
"The repetitive melodies in Mozart's music may be affecting the organizational
centers of the brain's cortex," Dr. Mandel said. "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 is the first to quantify the effect of music on newly born children.
Source: American Friends of Tel Aviv University, January 2010
