The Brain and Music

A fascinating study has come out on children, epilepsy and Mozart.  Epilepsy is a neurological disorder marked by sudden recurrent episodes of sensory disturbance, loss of consciousness, or convulsions, associated with abnormal electrical activity in the brain.  It continues to baffle neuroscientists, brain researchers and parents.  The social consequences are severe because the person tends to isolate from others, fearing that they could have a seizure and embarass themselves.

The study comes from Taiwan and states that:  “Increasing numbers of reports show the beneficial effects of listening to Mozart music in decreasing epileptiform discharges as well as seizure frequency in epileptic children. There has been no effective method to reduce seizure recurrence after the first unprovoked seizure until now. In this study, we investigated the effect of listening to Mozart K.448 in reducing the seizure recurrence rate in children with first unprovoked seizures.”

To read the entire abstract, go to   “Mozart K.448 listening decreased seizure recurrence and epileptiform discharges in children with first unprovoked seizures: a randomized controlled study.”

I think it is so interesting that the Mozart piece they chose is the same Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major, that the whole “Mozart Effect” study was based on.  It is a great piece for sure, but who would have thought that this one sonata could have so many beneficial outcomes for humanity!