Hearing just a few measures of Mozart’s music can improve memory and boost learning abilities, according to a recent study at Stanford University in California. Researchers have discovered a molecular basis for the music’s mental benefits.
As reported in New Scientist magazine (2004;15:10), rats who heard Mozart showed increased expression of genes responsible for stimulating and changing brain cell connections. “Smart” genes encouraged by the music included CREB, a learning and memory compound; BDNF, a nerve cell growth factor; and synapsin I, responsible for synapse formation. All improve function in the hippocampus, a brain area linked to learning and memory.
Conversely, rats hearing white noise showed no genetic changes. These findings support a previous study in which college students listened to Mozart and performed better on spatial reasoning tasks than did students who heard new age music.
Alzheimer’s patients exposed to Mozart also do better in spatial and social activities, and the famous composer’s sonatas reduce electrical activity associated with seizures in epileptics. To date, no other type of music has delivered the same benefits.
Study leader Dr Fran Rauscher and colleague Hong Hua Li suggest that rhythms found in Mozart’s music mirror rhythmic cycles occurring in human brains. However, IQ expert Howard Gardner of Harvard University says further research is necessary to uncover the true source of the observed benefits.
“The findings are intriguing . . . but whether this effect is due to music, let alone Mozart, still has to be determined,” Gardner said.
Li hopes to use the findings to design music therapy treatments for neurodegenerative diseases and brain injury. She and Rauscher plan future studies that will reveal whether there is a time limit to the purported “Mozart effect,” and whether any other types of music approach the benefits of the legendary maestro’s.
Compliments of Practical Memory Institute
www.memoryzine.com
