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Yes, There has been so much
written about the Mozart Effect and all the ways that music can heal
different illnesses, help students perform better on tests involving
spatial intelligence and make learning disabilities seem to disappear!
According to Dr. Alfred Tomatis
(with whom I studied for a few weeks in 1991!):
"According to Tomatis, the ear's
primary function is to help grow the brain of the unborn child. In
spite of all of the other sounds surrounding him (mother's heartbeat,
circulation, digestion), the fetus can recognize the maternal voice as
early as 4 1/2 months before birth. It is as essential to his growth
as food is. The umbilical cord feeds the body while the sound waves
nourish the brain. After birth, the ear charges the neo-cortex and
therefore ignites the entire nervous system.
Our nervous system can be
"charged" or "discharged" by the sounds around us. High frequencies
(such as those found frequently in Mozart's violin concertos) energise
the brain. The lower ones drain all energy away. To use sound in a
positive manner, Dr. Tomatis prescribes sonic therapy instead of
medication. In doing so, his goal is to rebuild the inner ear's
muscles so that the ear can once again differentiate all the
frequencies of surrounding sounds. This retraining of the ear is done
through "the electronic ear," Tomatis' own invention. in which
modified headphones transmit sound through the bones as well as
through air. Tapes of Mozart's music (specially-filtered to amplify
the higher frequencies) are used, as well as recordings of the
mother's voice (when available) and some Gregorian chants.
Tomatis also discovered that the human voice can reproduce only the
frequencies perceived by the ear. He demonstrated that one ear is
always dominant in the listening process, and that the analysis of
sounds is easier to achieve when the right ear listens first. This
finding was of particular interest to singers and musicians. In his
autobiography The Conscious Ear, Tomatis recalls how Maria Callas came
to him, unable to pursue her singing career because she had become
unable to hear properly with her right ear. Tomatis retrained her
inner ear and she was able to return the concert circuit with great
success. " (see
http://www.scena.org/lsm/sm5-2/mozart-en.htm )
If you're interested in knowing
more about Mozart and the so-called Mozart Effect and how to
implement it, go to
http://www.healingmusicenterprises.com/Mozart_Effect_Special.html.
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