Is Listening to Mozart a Booster for Your Brainpower?

Some people believe that Mozart could have a pleasant effect even to small children, developing their brainpower. From the scientific evidence gathered so far, however, the situation is much more complex and it is yet uncertain whether this is the case or not. The so-called Mozart effect is in fact a theorem that states that listening to Mozart makes you more intelligent over time.

Simply searching the Internet for this topic will reveal plenty of information about this topic, as well as a variety of products that claim to assist you in your goal of developing your brainpower with classical music, regardless of your age. 1991 was the year when the Mozart effect was discovered, but only two years after was this topic discussed publically, in the Nature journal. This affirmation is perhaps based on the fact that Mozart had a greatly developed brain and his genius was reflected in his music.

Immediately after this report was published thousands of people started to play Mozart to their children. In addition to this, the state of Georgia launched a program in 1998 as part of which every parent of a newborn baby would be given a classical music CD. The idea went even further, however, as farmers also started to play classical music to their animals. For example, the story of an Italian farmer who used classical music as a stimulant for his cows to produce better milk became really popular at that time. Recently, scientists have decided to analyze this Mozart effect scientifically and determine whether really listening to Mozart makes people more intelligent. One of the first surprises discovered by scientists is that the original paper does not even mention the phrase “Mozart effect”. In addition to this, it was also discovered that those who started the movement back in 1993 did not even test their theory on small children, but on young students. The study was conducted only on 36 subjects who were given a couple of mental tasks to complete, before and after listening to a classical music tape.

It was indeed discovered at that time that those students who listened to Mozart did better at the test, particularly at the tasks that require visualizing shapes using their minds. In addition to this, it was also discovered that building 3D shapes out of paper is also better. On the other hand, the effect of classical music is limited, as after fifteen minutes it almost completely disappeared. It is therefore hard to believe that the enhanced intelligence would last for a lifetime. Even so, there are many people who started plenty of theories about the true impact of Mozart’s music and the effects it could really bring. The complexity of his music is apparently a challenge for the brain, which shows an activity that is similar to the situations when we solve spatial puzzles. The latest research also indicates that listening to Mozart and classical music in general could create a temporary improvement in the ability to think, but the effects are definitely limited.