Mozart Helps Premature Babies Gain Weight

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: composer and baby saver.

Those who thought playing classical music for babies would help them develop better were only partly right. According to a new study, only the music of Mozart has been shown to help premature babies gain weight. Composers like Beethoven and Bach show no effect.

Conducted at Tel Aviv's School of Medicine, the study showed that a steady stream of Mozart sonatas helped premature babies gain weight. The study is published in the journal Pediatrics.

Researchers played Mozart to pre-term, underweight babies for half an hour, then measured the amount of energy the babies were expending. Results showed the babies expended less energy when listening to Mozart, which in turn helped them gain weight.

"The repetitive melodies in Mozart's music may be affecting the organizational centres of the brain’s cortex," said Dr. Dror Mandel.

However, not all composers were created alike when it comes to helping preemies.

"Unlike Beethoven, Bach or Bartok, Mozart's music is composed with a melody that is highly repetitive," said Dr. Mandel. "This might be the musical explanation. For the scientific one, more investigation is needed."

According to scientists, these findings are also important for hospitals, medical workers and families because it could mean a reduced amount of time premature babies are in hospitals, thus decreasing care costs.