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A Mozart sonata that can calm epileptic brain activity can gain its therapeutic power through melodies that create a sense of surprise, according to a study released Thursday. Research on 16 patients hospitalized with epilepsy who did not respond to medication has raised hopes that music could be used for new, non-invasive treatments.
“Our ultimate dream is to define an ‘anti-epileptic’ musical genre and to use music to improve the lives of people with epilepsy,” said Robert Quon of Dartmouth College, co-author of the study published in Scientific reports.
Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos in D major K448 is known for its effects on cognition and other brain activities, but researchers are still trying to understand why.
In this study, scientists played the part for patients fitted with brain implant sensors to monitor the onset of IEDs – brief but harmful brain events experienced by epileptics between seizures.
They found that IEDs decreased after 30 seconds of listening, with significant effects in parts of the brain associated with emotion.
When they compared the response to the structure of the work, they found that the effects increased during transitions between longer musical phrases – those that lasted ten seconds or more.
Quon says the results suggest that longer sentences can create a sense of anticipation – then respond in an unexpected way “creating a positive emotional response.”
The so-called “Mozart effect” has been the subject of research since scientists claimed in 1993 that people who listened to K448 for 10 minutes exhibited better spatial reasoning skills.
Further research tested the effects of K448 on various brain functions and disorders, including epilepsy.
But the writers said it was the first to break down observations based on the song’s structure, which they described as “organized by contrasting melodic themes, each with its own underlying harmony.”
As in previous studies, patients showed no change in brain activity when exposed to other auditory stimuli or to music that was not K448, even those from their favorite musical genres. .
Patients in this study listened to 90 seconds of Wagner’s work characterized by shifting harmonies but “no recognizable melody”.
Listening to Wagner produced no calming effects, which led researchers to focus on such an important melody in K448.
The study notes that further testing could use other carefully selected pieces of music for comparison to better understand the therapeutic components of the sonata.
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