Study: Mozart helps those with epilepsy

Listening to Mozart isn’t just an enjoyable diversion, it might also improve health.

In a remarkable study, researchers claim that epileptic patients who listen to the Austrian composer are prone to fewer seizures than those who don’t.

Epilepsy, the most common neurological disorder, affects approximately 50 million people on Earth, according to the World Health Organization.

The findings, published in the journal Epilepsia Open, could be key to unlocking the potential medical benefits of music. Researchers used “Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major, K 448,” and a scrambled version of the composition to test if the difference would have any effect on epileptics.

“In the past 15 to 20 years, we have learned a lot about how listening to one of Mozart’s compositions in individuals with epilepsy appears to demonstrate a reduction in seizure frequency,” explained lead author Dr. Marjan Rafiee of the Krembil Brain Institute in Toronto. “But, one of the questions that still needed to be answered was whether individuals would show a similar reduction in seizure frequency by listening to another auditory stimulus — a control piece — as compared to Mozart.”

Thirteen patients participated in the yearlong study.

“Our results showed daily listening to the first movement of (the sonata) was associated with reducing seizure frequency in adult individuals with epilepsy,” Rafiee claimed. “This suggests that daily Mozart listening may be considered as a supplemental therapeutic option to reduce seizures in individuals with epilepsy.”