- The secret of the healing energy of music created by Mozart
- The Mozart Effect
- An unseen example
- Mozart's music increases intelligence
"Mozart's music mobilizes all the natural abilities of our brain." (Gordon Shaw, US neuroscientist and physicist)
Numerous independent studies by scientists, doctors and psychologists around the world prove that the music of the Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791) has the strongest healing effect on people compared to the works of all other composers. Moreover, the musical works of this composer are capable of doing simply incredible things in terms of healing people from a huge number of a wide variety of ailments.
The therapeutic effect of Mozart's music is due, among other factors, to the fact that there are a lot of high-frequency sounds in it. First, these sounds strengthen the muscles of the middle ear. Secondly, sounds with a frequency of 3,000 to 8,000 Hz and above cause the greatest resonance in the cerebral cortex (this directly stimulates thinking and improves memory).
The abundance of high frequencies in the musical works of Mozart carries a powerful energy charge not only for the brain, but for the whole organism as a whole. The music of this composer does not make the brain "overstrain", unraveling the complex sound sequences that are present in the works of, for example, Bach or Beethoven. Mozart's music is ingeniously simple, pure, bright, sunny, sincere. It is no coincidence that its author is called the "solar" composer all over the world.
According to the conclusions of Turkish scientists who studied the "Mozart effect", in the sonatas of this composer there are all musical frequencies that actively affect the ear (and, therefore, the brain). These scientists have been doing this research for many years and have come to the conclusion that Mozart's music is the best remedy for autism and dyslexia.
All the secrets of the healing power of Mozart's music have not been fully disclosed so far and are unlikely to ever be revealed, since the most important of them are "hidden" in areas incomprehensible to the human mind.
- The Mozart Effect
In the 2nd half of the twentieth century. American research scientist Don Campbell wrote a book called The Mozart Effect, which became extremely popular in many countries of the world.
The very first CD-ROM he compiled with Mozart's musical works (it went on sale under the catchy title "Music that increases your intelligence") immediately landed in the top 10 most popular recordings of classical music, published in Billboard magazine. Among the people, stupefied by rock and pop music, a real boom began! Everyone wanted to listen to Mozart! And not for the purpose of education, but to be treated and grow wiser.
D. Campbell is one of the world's leading educators in the field of music and healing. He has written 9 books related to music therapy, among which (besides his book called The Mozart Effect mentioned above) are such world-class bestsellers as Music and Miracles, The Mozart Effect for Children, etc.
A wide range of medical and psychological research conducted by D. Campbell and his colleagues for more than 20 years has shown that Mozart's music has an obvious beneficial effect on human health and mental abilities.
D. Campbell selected the most healing from Mozart's works according to his own author's method and compiled a series of thematic CDs from them, which went on sale all over the world.
In a narrow sense, the term "Mozart effect" refers exclusively to the effect of Mozart's music on the human body.
Scientists from the Institute of Neuropsychology in Vienna (Austria) using an electroencephalogram were able to determine how long the “Mozart effect” lasts for listeners (more precisely, how long the encephalograph can “catch” the effect of this effect on the listener’s brain). So, for some people, the beneficial effect of music on the brain ceased simultaneously with the silence of the last notes of Mozart's musical composition. For others, the effect continued for another 3 minutes, and then the brain returned to its original (pre-listening) state.
You may also be interested in the article "".
- An unseen example
I could not pass by such a striking example of the triumph of the influence of Mozart's music. First of all, high-pitched sounds strengthen the microscopic muscles of the middle ear, which leads to improved hearing and speech. And our example about it.
Probably, few people know that the world-famous actor Gerard Depardieu had a severe defect in the 60s: he stuttered and remembered little. Fortunately, a doctor met in his life, who determined that Gerard had serious problems with the middle ear, and attributed to him ... several months of daily listening to 2 hours of Mozart's music. The result was stunning and we all know it.
Gerard completely got rid of stuttering, improved his memory, which allowed him to become a great actor. Then he will say:
“Before meeting Tomatis, I could not complete a single sentence. He helped complete my thoughts, taught me the synthesis and understanding of the very process of thinking.
- Mozart's music increases intelligence
Back in the nineties, many foreign scientific societies began to study the influence of Mozart's music on the intellectual ability of students to memorize educational material and came to the conclusion that this is what can stimulate the brain and the Central Nervous System in general.
According to scientists, any music tends to excite the auditory center of the brain, sometimes the centers responsible for emotions, but only one music - the works of the great Austrian, tends to fully activate the cerebral cortex. According to the expression of scientists, the bark emits a “glow” at this time! Such a reaction is called an objective process that improves memory and thinking - the healing effect of Mozart's music.
And again, it is clear to everyone - brain activity tends to contribute to the growth of intelligence. According to the findings of American scientists, listening to Mozart's works for only ten minutes leads to an increase in IQ up to ten units!
Here is an example of an experiment on the influence of the composer's music on the mental abilities of students during testing. One group of students worked in a quiet room, the second was offered to listen to an audiobook, the third - one of the sonatas of the Austrian composer. The result of the experiment was amazing - the increase in mental abilities of the first and second groups of students amounted to from fourteen to eleven percent, but students who enjoy music showed a result of over sixty percent.
Moreover, the influence of Mozart's music has a positive effect in any case, that is, regardless of how a person relates to classical music - five minutes of listening is enough to significantly improve memory and concentration.
We subjected these animals [rats] in the womb and sixty days after birth to various types of auditory stimulation, and then brought them into the spatial labyrinth. And, of course, the animals that were subjected to the Mozart effect completed the maze faster and with fewer mistakes. Now we dissect animals and study their brains to neuro-anatomically accurately identify what specifically changed in the brain from this impact. It is possible that intense exposure to music has similar effects on the spatial regions of the brain's hippocampus. – Dr. Francis Rauscher
That children's experiences in their early years ultimately determine their scholastic abilities, their future careers, and their ability to form love relationships is hardly supported by neuroscience. — John Brewer
The Mozart effect is a term coined by Alfred A. Tomatis for the supposed enhancement of brain development that occurs in children under the age of 3 when they listen to the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
The idea for the Mozart effect originated in 1993 at the University of California, Irvine, with physicist Gordon Shaw and Francis Rauscher, a former cellist and cognitive development specialist. They studied the impact on several dozen students of the first 10 minutes of Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major (op. 448). They found a temporal improvement in space-time thinking, as measured by the Stanford-Binet scale. Numerous attempts have been made to replicate these results, but most have failed (Willingham 2006). One of the researchers noted that “the best that can be said about the results of their study is that listening to Mozart records increases IQ for a short time” (Linton). Rauscher went on to study the effects of the Mozart effect on rats. Shaw and Rauscher believe that listening to Mozart improves spatial reasoning and memory in humans.
In 1997, Rauscher and Shaw announced that they had scientific evidence that piano and singing instruction was superior to computer instruction in developing children's abstract thinking skills.
The experiment included three groups of preschoolers: one group received private piano and singing lessons, the second group received private computer lessons, and the third group received no training. Those children who received piano training scored 34% higher on tests of space-time ability than others. These results show that music unambiguously develops the higher brain functions required for learning mathematics, chess, science and technology (Neurological Research, February 1997).
The show and Rauscher kick-started an entire industry. In addition, they created their own institute: the Neuro-Institute for Musical Development of the Intellect (MIND). They do numerous studies to prove the amazing effects of music, they even set up a website to keep track of all the news regarding these studies.
Shaw and Rauscher allege that their work has been misrepresented. In fact, they showed "that there are structures of neurons that fire one after the other and that there seem to be regions of the brain that respond to certain frequencies." This is not the same as showing that listening to Mozart increases intelligence in children. However, Shaw is not going to wait for more convincing evidence, because even without this he does not lack in parents who want to increase the IQ of their own children. He released a book as well as a CD titled Remember Mozart. This disc can be ordered and purchased from the Shaw Institute. He and his colleagues believe that since spatiotemporal thinking plays an essential role in solving cognitive problems, stimulating areas of the brain associated with it during exercise will increase a person's abilities. Shaw and his staff are selling a special computer program that, with the help of a lively cartoon penguin, promotes the development of spatial thinking in everyone.
Shaw and Rauscher gave rise to an entire industry, but the media and non-critical people have created an alternative science that supports this industry. Exaggerated and false claims about the impact of music have become so hackneyed that trying to correct them would be a waste of time. For example, Jamal Munshi, a university business administrator from Sonoma County, collects poignant news about misinformation and gullibility. He posts them on his website under the heading "Strange but true." There is information about the experiments of Shaw and Rauscher, which demonstrated that listening to a Mozart sonata "increases the student's scientific and technical ability score by 51 points." In fact, Shaw and Rauscher handed out test papers to 36 UCLA students and found that when listening to Mozart music, participants showed a temporary improvement of 8-9% in their personal performance compared to a similar test given after listening to relaxation music. (The Munshi also claims that science cannot explain how flies fly. Scientists are working on this important problem, so we have to give them credit. Some even claim to know how insects fly.)
Don Campbell, supporter of the views of Carlos Castaneda and P.T. Barnum, exaggerates and distorts the work of Shaw, Rauscher and others to his advantage. He has trademarked the expression "The Mozart Effect" and sells himself and his products at www.mozarteffect.com. Campbell claims that the blood clot in his brain dissipated thanks to prayers and an imaginary vibrating hand inside the right side of the skull. Gullible proponents of alternative medicine do not question this claim, although it is one of the claims that cannot be proven or disproved. He could also argue that the clot was dissolved thanks to the angels. (I wonder why he had a blood clot if music has such a good effect on a person. Maybe he listened to rap?)
Campbell's claims about the impact of music are reminiscent of the rococo style in color. And like Rococo, they are just as artificial. (Campbell claims that music can cure all ills.) He presents his evidence in narrative form and misinterprets it. Some of his results are absolutely fantastic.
All his arguments collapse at the slightest intervention of common sense. If Mozart's music can improve health, why did Mozart himself get sick often? If listening to Mozart's music improves the intellect, why aren't the smartest people among the Mozart connoisseurs?
The lack of evidence for the Mozart effect has not stopped Campbell from becoming the favorite of the naive and gullible audiences to whom he lectures.
When McCall's needs advice on how to get rid of sadness with music, when PBS wants to interview an expert on how voice can energize you, when IBM needs a consultant on how to use music to increase productivity, when the National Association cancer survivors need a speaker who can talk about the healing role of music, they turn to Campbell. (Campbell site)
The governors of Tennessee and Georgia have established a program whereby a CD of Mozart is given to every newborn. The Florida State Legislature passed a law requiring that classical music be played every day in state-funded childcare facilities. Hundreds of hospitals received free classical music CDs in May 1999 from the National Recording Academy and the Science Foundation. It is unlikely that these good intentions are based on solid research that classical music enhances a child's intelligence or speeds up the healing process in adults.
According to Kenneth Steele, professor of psychology at Appalachian State University, and John Brewer, director of the James McDonnell Foundation in St. Louis, listening to Mozart's music does not actually affect intellectual performance or health. Steele and her colleagues Karen Bass and Melissa Crook claim they relied on Shaw and Rauscher's reports but couldn't "find any effect" even though their study included 125 students. They concluded that "there is very little evidence to support the implementation of programs based on the existence of the Mozart effect." Their study, published in July 1999. Two years later, some researchers reported in the same journal that the observed effects were associated with "higher mood and arousal" (Willingham 2006).
In his book The Myth of the First Three Years, Brewer criticizes not only the Mozart effect, but also several other myths based on misinterpretations of recent brain research.
The Mozart effect is an example of how science and media are intertwined in our world. A paragraph-long report in a scientific journal becomes a universal truth within a few months, believed even by scientists who know how the media can distort and distort results. Others, smelling money, go over to the side of the winner, adding their own myths, dubious claims and distortions to the common treasury. Then many credulous supporters close their ranks and come out in defense of the faith, because the future of our children is at stake. We happily buy books, cassettes, CDs, etc. Soon, millions believe in the myth, considering it to be a scientific fact. Then the process encounters a slight critical resistance, because we already know that music can affect feelings and moods. Then why shouldn't it affect intelligence and health, at least a little and temporarily? It's just common sense, isn't it? Yes, and one more reason for skepticism.
What did Mozart leave us, besides the aesthetic enjoyment of his masterpieces? Scientists all over the world believe that Mozart's music enhances the ability of the intellect and improves health. Even plants and cows are not indifferent to it.
One German company proposed to influence the music of Mozart on wastewater. We invite you to get acquainted with the results of observations and studies of the so-called "Mozart effect".
Intellectual ability
This term was first introduced in 1995 by scientists at the University of California. They found that students tested for spatial reasoning showed higher IQs after listening to Mozart's music. Similar studies have been done with minimalist and trance music, relaxation teams, and audiobooks, but found no effect.
Scientists Gordon Shaw, Katherine Kay, and Francis Roche of the Center for the Neuroscience of Learning and Memory wrote in a report published in Neuroscience Letters that “36 students listened to Mozart's Sonata for Two Pianos, K.448, for 10 minutes. As a result, they scored 8 to 9 points on the Stanford-Binet IQ test for spatial reasoning more than they did after listening to silence or recordings of relaxation commands. The duration of the audition was only 10-15 minutes.
A study of 79 students also showed "a marked improvement in the group listening to Mozart compared to the group listening to silence and the group listening to other types of music. The researchers concluded that "the cortex's response to music may be the Rosetta Stone for the 'code' or language of higher brain function."
Milk products
The Spanish periodical El Mundo reported in 2007 that cows on a farm in Villanueva del Pardillo produce 30-35 liters of milk per day, while on other farms on other farms, only 28 liters per cow. Farm owner Hans Peter Sieber admitted that his 700 Friesian cows listen to Mozart's Concerto for flute and harp during milking. He also claimed that since Mozart was played to cows, milk had become sweeter.
Monks from Brittany, France, according to ABC, were the first to discover the positive effects of Mozart's music on cows. Nowadays, on farms from England to Israel, cows are given classical music to listen to.
Impact on the health of premature babies
The journal Pediatrics in 2010 published a study by Israeli scientists, from which it followed that Mozart helps premature babies gain weight faster. At the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, 20 premature babies were given Mozart music for 30 minutes on two days in a row. They then compared their weight gain with those of infants who did not listen to any music.
Doctors found that children who listened to music became calmer, and this led to a decrease in resting energy expenditure (REP).
In their article, the researchers concluded that “in healthy preterm infants, listening to Mozart's music significantly reduces REP. We believe that accelerated weight gain as a result of the Mozart effect can be partly explained by the influence of music on REP.”
Cleaning of drains
In 2010, a wastewater treatment plant near Berlin tested a Mozart sound system made by the German company Mundus. The music from The Magic Flute was played for biomass-eating microbes. The experiment at the plant lasted several months and was suspended. But, a year later, when it was time to clear the sediment from the tanks, it turned out that instead of the usual 7000 cubic meters. sludge, it was required to take out only 6000.
Wastewater specialist Detlef Dalichou told the Märkische Allgemeine newspaper that "we had to take away much less sludge."
In this way, the company saved 10,000 euros on the cost of sludge removal. Mundus claims to make every effort to ensure that their speakers accurately reproduce the sound quality of a concert hall.
plant growth
In the 1970s, studies were carried out on the effect of various types of music on plants. Some music influenced them well, from the other they died. However, Mozart's music was preferable for plants.
For the first time, experiments on the effect of music on plants were carried out by student Dorothy Retallack in 1973 in the laboratory of biotron control of Colorado State College. She let the plants listen to the music of two different radio stations. Rock sounded in the first room for three hours a day. In the second, the radio played light music for three hours a day.
Under the influence of light music, the plants grew healthy, their stems reaching for the radio. Heavy music, rock, suppressed them, the leaves grew small, turning away from the speakers. Long and ugly sprouts, for the most part, died after 16 days.
Retallack has experimented with many different styles of music. Plants fell in love with Bach's organ music and jazz. They turned their backs on Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix.
It turned out that most of all the plants liked classical Indian music played on the sitar. They were absolutely indifferent to country music.
Vine
Vineyard owner and music lover Carlo Cignozzi decided to find an ecological way to control grape pests. In 2001, he installed speakers in his 24-acre vineyard in Tuscany. Around the clock, the plants listened to classical music, including Mozart. Carlo Cignozzi noticed that the vines grew better.
Grapes located closer to the speakers ripened faster. Inspired by his success, Chignozzi gave grapes classical music to listen to, protecting them from rock or pop music.
The baton of research was picked up by scientists from the University of Florence. In 2006, university staff conducted an experiment.
The vines that enjoyed the melodies, as the professor of agronomic sciences Stefano Mancuso said, ripened faster than those that were not allowed to listen to music. Music had a beneficial effect on the growth of the vine and the total area of \u200b\u200bthe foliage.
Rats in the maze
Francis Rocher, who participated in the first studies of the Mozart effect in 1995, continued her experiments in 1998 with a group of rats. They were exposed to Mozart's music in the womb, and 60 days after birth. As it turned out, these rats went through the maze faster than those who grew up in silence or listened to the music of the minimalist composer Philip Glass, as well as white noise.
The results of experiments conducted at the University of Wisconsin were published in the journal Neurological Research. They showed that “on the third day of exposure to Mozart's music, the experimental animals completed the maze faster, making fewer mistakes than other rats. The difference in results became significantly greater on the fifth day. This suggests that prolonged exposure to complex music improves spatial-temporal learning in rats, which is similar to the results observed in humans.”
Louis Macchiello, Epoch Times
(Translation from English)
The Mozart effect showed the harmonizing influence of classical music on a person. The beneficial effects of classical music on humans have been known for a long time. Pregnant women are even advised to listen to such music so that the baby develops well and can reveal their talents.
In the 90s of the XX century, amazing information appeared about the unique impact on the human brain of Mozart's music. The unusual influence was called the Mozart effect. Until now, scientists argue about the nature of this phenomenon. However, compelling evidence has been collected to support the power of classical music.
Activation of the cerebral cortex
The first experiments in this direction were carried out on rats. For two months they were given 12 hours a day to listen to one piece of music - a sonata in C major by Mozart. As a result, the rats became “wiser” and began to run the maze 27% faster. They made 37% fewer mistakes than normal rats.
As for people, here scientists have studied brain activity using magnetic resonance. Studies have shown that any music affects the human brain. That is, it excites the area that is the auditory center. In some cases, areas of the brain associated with emotions were also excited. But just listening to Mozart's music activated almost the WHOLE CORA. As scientists figuratively put it, almost the entire cerebral cortex began to glow.
Study of the effects of music on the human brain
The power of the impact of Mozart's music on the brain has been scientifically proven in two directions: the frequency of the rhythm change and the actual frequency of the sound.
The first is due to the fact that our brain has cycles in its work. The nervous system, in particular, has a rhythm of 20-30 seconds. Scientists have suggested that resonance in the cerebral cortex can just cause sound waves that oscillate at the same frequency. For the same reason, the issue of changing the frequency of the sound of musical instruments from 432 Hz to 440 in the middle of the last century is relevant. (Read an article about)
The University of Illinois analyzed the frequency responses of music from nearly 60 different composers to see how often 20-30 second waves occur in a piece. When we brought all the data into one table, it turned out that the authors of primitive pop music were at the very bottom, but Mozart took first place at the top.
It is in his music with its unique nuances, overflows and overflow of sounds that 30-second waves are repeated more often than in any other music. Those. in this music, the coveted 30-second “quiet-loud” rhythm is sustained, which corresponds to the biorhythms of our brain.
On the other hand, it has been proven that high-frequency sounds (3,000 - 8,000 Hz) receive the greatest resonance in the cerebral cortex. And the works of Mozart are literally saturated with high-frequency sounds.
Music enhances human intelligence
The activation of the cerebral cortex is not just a scientific miracle. This is an objective process that stimulates thought processes and improves memory. Increased brain activity significantly increases the intellectual level of a person.
American scientists have shown that if you listen to Mozart's music for only 10 minutes, then IQ will increase by almost 8-10 units. So one interesting experiment was conducted at the University of California, how music affects students passing the test. 3 control groups were selected:
Group 1 - students sat in complete silence;
Group 2 - students listened to an audiobook;
Group 3 - students listened to Mozart's sonata.
All students were tested before and after the experiment. As a result, the students improved their results as follows
group 1 - by 14%;
group 2 - by 11%;
Group 3 - by 62%.
Agree, impressive results?!
The amazing Mozart effect in action
European scientists have proven that under the influence of the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, mental abilities increase, regardless of how they treat it (like it or not). Even after 5 minutes of listening, people noticeably increase concentration and concentration.
This music has a particularly strong effect on children. Children develop their intelligence much faster. In the United States, children were monitored for 5 years. Those children who attended music lessons for 2 years in a row showed a significant development of spatial thinking.
In adults, the effect of exposure has significant inertia. In some people, brain activity disappeared with the last sounds. In others, the effect lasted longer, but then the brain returned to its original state again.
A prime example of the impact of the Mozart effect
It is known that high-pitched sounds strengthen the microscopic muscles of the middle ear, and this leads to improved hearing and speech. This example is one of the most striking cases of the impact of the Mozart effect on a person.
Probably, few people know that the world-famous actor Gerard Depardieu had a severe defect in the 60s: he stuttered and had a bad memory. Fortunately, in his life he met a doctor who determined that young Gerard had serious problems with his middle ear. He prescribed him ... several months of daily listening to 2 hours of Mozart's music. The result was stunning, and we know about it from the films with the actor.
Gerard Depardieu completely got rid of stuttering, improved his memory, which allowed him to become one of the most famous actors in the world. Later he will say:
“Before meeting Tomatis, I could not complete a single sentence. He helped complete my thoughts, taught me the synthesis and understanding of the very process of thinking.
Practical application of the Mozart effect in life
They tell a case when the music of Amadeus Mozart literally brought a person back to life. 78-year-old seriously ill Marshal Richelieu Louis Francois Armand du Plessis was already dying. Minutes before his apparent death, he asked for his last wish in this life. The marshal asked that Mozart's favorite concerto be played to him.
Shortly after the last notes were sounded, a true miracle happened to the marshal! Death receded, and Richelieu began to recover amazingly quickly. Thanks to Mozart's music, vitality returned to the dying marshal and he actively lived for another 14 years. Marshal Richelieu Louis Francois Armand du Plessis died at the respectable age of 92.
In Canada, works by Mozart are played at the state level in city squares to reduce the number of accidents. Unfortunately, in our time, classical music has been relegated to the margins of radio and television broadcasts. Moreover, you will not hear classical music on the streets of Russia. But what prevents us from arranging for ourselves at least short sessions from the amazing music of Mozart and other classics.
Listen to Mozart music used in tests
How are myths created? Can a myth be monetized? Debriefing on the example of the myth of the "Mozart Effect".
The origin of the myth:
In the 50s of the last century, the French physician Alfred A. Tomatis put forward a hypothesis about the possibility of influencing the human brain through his hearing. He suggested that the smooth thirty-second transitions from "forte" (loudly) to "piano" (quietly), which Mozart used in his works, coincide with the biorhythms in the cerebral hemispheres. In 1991, his book Why Mozart? was published. In it, he suggested that music can develop and heal the brain. It was in this book that he introduced the concept of the Mozart Effect.
Recognizing the myth as reality:
In 1993, researchers Francis Rauscher and David Shaw of Columbia University studied the influence of Mozart's music on human spatial thinking. They played several Mozart sonatas to a group of test subjects, after which they asked them to take a standard spatial reasoning test. The test results showed an improvement in spatial thinking, i.e. increasing the concentration of attention and the speed of solving the proposed tasks. But this effect lasted only for 15 minutes. The results of this study were published in the journal Nature. At the same time, the researchers did not make any statements about the improvement in IQ in general.
Popularization of the myth
Although Rauscher and Shaw's study showed only a short-term improvement in spatial reasoning, their results were interpreted by the public and the media as "improvements in overall brain function." In 1994, music columnist Alex Ross wrote an article in the New York Times titled: "Researchers Find That Listening to Mozart Actually Makes You Smarter." And in 1997, about the results of the study
Rauscher and Shaw were mentioned by the Boston Globe.
Monetization of the myth:
In 1997, Don Campbell published The Mozart Effect: The Power of Music to Heal the Body, Strengthen the Mind, and Unleash the Creative Spirit. In his book, he argued that listening to Mozart's music (especially piano concertos) not only improves brain function and makes a person smarter, but also has a beneficial effect on overall mental state. Following the first book, he immediately wrote the second - The Mozart Effect for Children. In this book, he recommended playing classical music to babies to improve their mental development. Referring to the study of Rauscher and Shaw, Campbell presented his statements as already proven scientific facts.
In fact, he argued that Mozart's works are magical "pills for everything." They can be used to relieve stress and depression, to relax and improve memory, to treat dyslexia, autism and other mental and physical disorders. In addition, he assured that he knew exactly what works of Mozart should be listened to for: “deep rest and rejuvenation”, “development of the intellect and learning”, “development of creativity and imagination”. Simultaneously with the release of books, he released a collection of audio CDs with a "correct" selection of Mozart's works.
As a result, Campbell created a new market that exploited the consumer's belief in the existence of a "universal cure". The goods on the market were books and collections of music, published first by Campbell, and then by his followers.
Heavy artillery:
On January 13, 1998, Zel Miller, candidate for governor of the state of Georgia (USA), in his speech to voters, announced that his state budget proposal would include $ 105,000 a year to provide every child born in the state with a cassette or disk with recording classical music.
Myth debunking:
In 1999, two groups of researchers raised the question: Does the "Mozart Effect" really exist? In the article “Prelude or Requiem on the Mozart Effect”, based on an analysis of the results of several studies, Chabris reported: “any improvement in spatial thinking attributed to the Mozart Effect is too small and does not reflect changes in IQ or the ability to think logically in general. However, such an improvement can help solve one specific problem. But this is due to a common phenomenon in neuropsychology - stimulants of pleasure and the "Mozart Effect" has nothing to do with it.
The German government, in turn, also conducted a special study on the study of the "Mozart Effect". In their report, they concluded: "... listening to Mozart or any other music that you like will not make you smarter ..."
Francis Rauscher, whose results were published in the journal Nature and who actually started it all, was one of the first researchers to deny the influence of Mozart's music on improving brain function in general. In 1999, in response to another article about the "Mozart Effect", he wrote: "The results of our study on the influence of Mozart's sonata K.448 on the spatio-temporal performance of the task caused not only great interest, but also several misconceptions ...".
The myth is dead, long live the myth.
Despite the fact that the existence of the "Mozart Effect" in the scientific community was refuted a long time ago, the market created by Campbell is not only still alive, but also successfully developing.
For the query "Mozart effect" search engines give out a lot of offers to buy books and CDs. On sites for expectant mothers, you can not only buy a selection of discs with the Mozart Effect, but also sign up for a seminar on this topic. "Experienced psychologists", for a moderate fee, offer their services in the selection of individual music programs for relaxation, memory improvement and treatment of mental disorders.
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