Mozart K.545 Mimics Mozart K.448 in Reducing Epileptiform Discharges in Epileptic Children

Lung-Chang Lin,Rei-Cheng Yang,Ruey-Chang Wei,Hui-Chuan Wu,Chin-Lin Tsai,Hin-Kiu Mok,Mei-Wen Lee

doi:10.1155/2012/607517

Abstract

Mozart K.448 has been shown to improve cognitive function, leading to what is known as the Mozart Effect. Our previous work reveals positive effects of Mozart K.448 in reducing epileptiform discharges in epileptic children. In this study, we evaluated the effect of Mozart K.545 and compared the effects with those of Mozart K.448 on epileptiform discharges in children with epilepsy. Thirty-nine epileptic children with epileptiform discharges were included in the study. They received electroencephalogram examinations before, during, and after listening to Mozart K.448 and K.545, one week apart, respectively. The frequencies of epileptiform discharges were compared. There was a significant decrease in the frequency of epileptiform discharges during and right after listening to Mozart K.448 and K.545 (reduced by 35.7 ± 32.7% during Mozart K.448 and 30.3 ± 44.4% after Mozart K.448; and 34.0 ± 39.5% during Mozart K.545 and 31.8 ± 39.2% after Mozart K.545). Spectrogrammatic analysis of the two pieces of music demonstrated that both share similar spectrogrammatic characteristics. Listening to Mozart K.448 and K.545 decreased the epileptiform discharges in epileptic children. This suggests that Mozart K.448 is not the only piece of music to have beneficial effects on children with epilepsy. Other music with lower harmonics may also decrease epileptiform discharges in epileptic children.

Highlights

Music has been used to improve physical and mental illnesses
We evaluated the effect of Mozart K.545 and compared the effects with those of Mozart K.448 on epileptiform discharges in children with epilepsy
There was a significant decrease in the frequency of epileptiform discharges during and right after listening to Mozart K.448 and K.545

Summary

Introduction

Music has been used to improve physical and mental illnesses. Rauscher et al first report the “Mozart Effect” in 1993. They note that Stanford-Binet spatial task scores improve immediately after listening to Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos in D major, K.448 (Mozart K.448) for ten minutes, when compared to the same time of silence or relaxation instruction [1]. Rauscher suggests that cognitive processing is improved by listening to Mozart’s music. Hughes et al and our previous study show that the epileptiform discharges decrease when listening to Mozart K.448 in patients with epilepsy [5, 6]. Whether Mozart K.448 is the only piece of music that can effectively reduce epileptiform discharges remains unclear. We used another piece of Mozart’s music, Mozart Piano Sonata No 16 in C major (Mozart K.545), with similar harmonics to Mozart K.448, to study the role of the harmonics of the musical stimulus in reducing epileptiform discharges. We analyzed the relationships between the decrease in epileptiform discharges with the foci of epileptiform discharges, mentality, state of wakefulness, epileptic etiology, seizure type, and gender

Patients and Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusions