How the ‘Mozart effect’ can ease epilepsy
HE composed some of the greatest classical music the world has ever known.
But listening to Mozart can also ease the symptoms of epilepsy in children, according to a Scots study.
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh found that youngsters with the condition suffered fewer seizures after hearing excerpts from Sonata for Two Pianos in D major.
Such music therapy could prove a cheaper alternative than the medications currently in use.
Around half a million people in the UK have epilepsy, with treatment costing the NHS £165million a year. Dr Eliza Grylls, who led the study, said: ‘It is thought repeated exposure to Mozart’s music could prime the brain to induce physiological changes, including the normalising effect on epileptic activity.
‘There is great potential to further investigate this effect and the possible use of music as a therapy for epilepsy.’
In the study, 45 youngsters aged from two to 18 were recruited at Edinburgh’s Royal Hospital for Sick Children.
Their brainwaves were monitored while they listened to five minutes of the sonata’s first movement.
They were then played segments of music by either the Teletubbies, the Singing Kettle or Busted.
In their research, published in the medical journal Seizure, the scientists wrote: ‘Our study has confirmed the Mozart effect in children, but furthermore has shown this effect does not occur with control music.’
Ley Sander, of the Epilepsy Society, said exposure to music could increase dopamine levels in the brain, which ‘may have an anticonvulsant effect’.