The Mozart Effect

A great many moms have made sure their babies listen to Mozart in hopes that this will give a boost to their intellect. But a new study performed by scientists at the University of Vienna tells us we might as well play Lady Gaga for our infants, since it makes not a whit of a difference in their development.

Higher Scores

Back in 1993, a study done by Frances Rauscher of the University of California at Irvine tested the theory of the "Mozart effect." Rauscher found that when she had adolescents listen to Mozart's Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major; their scores were higher on reasoning tests than for those who listened to other types of music or no music at all.

When Rauscher's report hit the media, it had a huge impact. Baby Mozart CD's sold like hotcakes, and in 1998, Georgia's Governor Zell Miller wanted to spend 105,000 to buy Mozart CD's for every baby in Georgia. Florida's state-funded childcare centers were told to play one hour of classical music each day.

At a Slovak hospital, researchers initiated a program in which newborns listened to a variety of music genres such as classical, jazz, or pop. They found that exposure to classical music offers no more future intellectual benefits or stimuli than any other type of music. But this study was very small and included only 40 students.

Larger Scale

Other researchers decided to see if they could reproduce these results on a larger scale. To that end, the team from the University of Vienna analyzed 40 studies from around the world with a total of 3,000 participants. The team was forced to conclude that there is no evidence to prove that the Mozart effect exists.

"Those who listened to music—Mozart or something else, Bach, Pearl Jam—had better results than the silent group. But we already knew people perform better if they have a stimulus," said head researcher Jakob Pietschnig.

The researchers stress that they aren't saying that music doesn't impact on the development of the brain; rather they are saying that passive listening doesn't bring any automatic benefits. On the other hand, studies that looked at the complicated process of learning to play an instrument found that there was a profound effect on brain plasticity and cognitive function.

Related Skills

One such study suggested that children who learn an instrument do better than their peers at activities with a relationship to music, for instance writing, which requires fine motor skills. However, they also did better at some seemingly unrelated skills, for instance vocabulary and nonverbal reasoning. Still other studies have found a link between music, spatial concepts, and math skills.

The upshot seems to be that an active education in music produces some side benefits, whereas passive listening does not. The CD's are a nice idea, but won't really do much for your baby's future studies.

Back in 1993, a study done by Frances Rauscher of the University of California at Irvine tested the theory of the "Mozart effect." Rauscher found that when she had adolescents listen to Mozart's Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major; their scores were higher on reasoning tests than for those who listened to other types of music or no music at all.

When Rauscher's report hit the media, it had a huge impact. Baby Mozart CD's sold like hotcakes, and in 1998, Georgia's Governor Zell Miller wanted to spend 105,000 to buy Mozart CD's for every baby in Georgia. Florida's state-funded childcare centers were told to play one hour of classical music each day.

At a Slovak hospital, researchers initiated a program in which newborns listened to a variety of music genres such as classical, jazz, or pop. They found that exposure to classical music offers no more future intellectual benefits or stimuli than any other type of music. But this study was very small and included only 40 students.

Larger Scale

Other researchers decided to see if they could reproduce these results on a larger scale. To that end, the team from the University of Vienna analyzed 40 studies from around the world with a total of 3,000 participants. The team was forced to conclude that there is no evidence to prove that the Mozart effect exists.

"Those who listened to music—Mozart or something else, Bach, Pearl Jam—had better results than the silent group. But we already knew people perform better if they have a stimulus," said head researcher Jakob Pietschnig.

The researchers stress that they aren't saying that music doesn't impact on the development of the brain; rather they are saying that passive listening doesn't bring any automatic benefits. On the other hand, studies that looked at the complicated process of learning to play an instrument found that there was a profound effect on brain plasticity and cognitive function.

Related Skills

One such study suggested that children who learn an instrument do better than their peers at activities with a relationship to music, for instance writing, which requires fine motor skills. However, they also did better at some seemingly unrelated skills, for instance vocabulary and nonverbal reasoning. Still other studies have found a link between music, spatial concepts, and math skills.

The upshot seems to be that an active education in music produces some side benefits, whereas passive listening does not. The CD's are a nice idea, but won't really do much for your baby's future studies.