The Mozart Effect

The phrase "The Mozart Effect", coined by Alfred Tomatis", refers to the beneficial effect that listening to 15 minutes of Mozart daily for several months has on the brain.  Mr. Tomatis used the classical music to treat a variety of disorders including dyslexia, attention deficity disorder, autism and epilepsy.  Listening to Mozart can benefit all of us according to experts who claim that it improves listening, relaxation, sleep, memory and awareness while reducing anxiety, stress and depression. 

The Boston Globe printed an article in 1997 quoting a study that was performed on three and four years olds who were given eight months of classical piano lessons, while control groups were given either computer lessons or nothing.  Later, the piano group scored 34% higher than the other two groups on spatial-temporal reasoning tests.  Some experts even claim that significant exposure to Mozart raises a child's IQ by a few points.

Classical music is not just being used to develop the brain.  I remember a few years ago about a Calgary school that played music on a loudspeaker on the playground at night to keep vandals away.  Furthermore, a German sewage treatment played Mozart to break down waste faster. 

So put a piano concerto into your CD player today.  Your brain will thank you.

The following books deal with the Mozart Effect:

1.  Pourquoi Mozart?  (Alfred Tomatis)
2.  The Mozart Effect:  Tapping the Power of Music to Heal the Body, Strengthen the Mind, Unlock the Creative Spirit (Don Campbell)

Source:  www.enwikipedia.org.



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