There has been a great deal of medical research regarding the clinical uses of music, and recently, Doctors at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh, Scotland have discovered a unique property of Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major. They discovered that children who listened to the Sonata showed a reduction in epileptic discharges compared to other children who listened to control music (Classicfm).

​

The charity, Epilepsy Action, claims that only one other piece of music has caused similar effects — one from the Greek composer, Yanni, “Acroyali/Standing in Motion” (Classicfm).

​

The idea of the ‘Mozart Effect’ has been around a long time (there’s a whole wiki dedicated to it). In 2001, Dr. J.S. Jenkins published an article in the Journal of The Royal Society of Medicine (JRSM) outlining the studies done prior and the most common claims. He makes it clear early on that there are a lot of conflicting conclusions about Mozart’s music.

​

The most common and repeatable result of Mozart exposure is increased spatial reasoning intelligence. The effects do not last long though (about 10-15 minutes after the music stops). The occurs because the area of the brain that processes music overlaps with the areas of the brain concerned with mental imaging (JRSM). This effect is comparable to the way scents can serve as strong triggers for memories: the olfactory bulb (scent processing region) has direct connections to the amygdala (emotion) and hippocampus (memory) (Psychology Today).

​

Scientists have studied children who were not only exposed to Mozart but learned to play classical melodies on the piano. Training took about six months and compared to kids who did not receive piano lessons, the former scored 30% better than the latter (JRSM). Later experiments claimed that children who received piano lessons achieved better scores in mathematics (JRSM).

​

Although no study has yet to show substantial long-term effects of any given type of music, one thing is clear. According to Harvard University, Consistent exposure to music is associated with many benefits to one’s own health, like rehabilitation, mood regulation, heart normality, and decreased stress. So, keep jamming, doctor’s orders.