Why Mozart beats Beethoven in giving your brain a boost

THEY both composed some of the most popular music ever written.

But while Mozart and Beethoven each have legions of fans, it seems one is much better for your brain.

Listeners of Mozart experienced an increase in brain activity linked to memory, understanding and problem-solving, a study found.

But no such differences were seen after the group heard a Beethoven piece, suggesting there is something specific about t he effect of the other’s music on our minds, researchers said.

The scientists, from Sapienza University of Rome, said: ‘These results may be representative of the fact that Mozart’s music is able to “activate” neuronal cortical circuits [nerve cells in the brain] related to attentive and cognitive functions.’

They ruled out the possibility that the results were ‘just a consequence of listening to music in general’.

For the study, published in the journal Consciousness and Cognition, the researchers used an electroencephalography (EEG) machine to record the electrical activity of the participants’ brains.

The group was made up of ten young healthy adults with an average age of 33, ten healthy elderly adults with an average age of 85, and ten elderly people with mild cogni- tive impairment with an average age of 77. Recordings were made before and after they listened to L’allegro Con Spirito from the Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major by Mozart, and before and after they listened to Beethoven’s Fur Elise.

Increases in brain activity linked to IQ, memory and problem solving were seen in both the groups of healthy participants after they heard Mozart – but not after Beethoven.

The researchers suggested that the rational and highly organised arrangement of the Mozart sonata may ‘echo the organisation of the cerebral cortex’ – which is the part of the brain responsible for highlevel mental functions.

They wrote: ‘One of the distinctive features of Mozart’s music is the frequent repetition of the melodic line. This determines the virtual lack of surprise elements that may distract the listener’s attention from rational listening, where each element of harmonic and melodic tension finds a resolution that confirms listeners’ expectations.’

A previous study, published in 1993, found that listening to the same Mozart piece could improve spatial reasoning skills for a short time.