London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Sep 30, 2025

'Mozart effect': Listening to composer's Sonata For Two Pianos K448 can prevent epileptic seizures, study finds

'Mozart effect': Listening to composer's Sonata For Two Pianos K448 can prevent epileptic seizures, study finds

Researchers say listening to Mozart can lead to a decrease in epileptiform discharges, the brain waves that can cause seizures.
A piece of music by Mozart can have an anti-epileptic effect on the brain and may be a possible treatment to prevent seizures, according to a new study.

Researchers at the Hospital St Anne and CEITEC Masaryk University in the Czech Republic found that listening to Mozart's Sonata For Two Pianos K448 reduced epileptiform discharges (EDs) - the electrical brain waves associated with epilepsy and which can cause seizures.

The team compared the effects of listening to two classical pieces on epilepsy and on brain activity.

"To our surprise, there were significant differences between the effects of listening to Mozart's K448 and Haydn's No 94," said Professor Ivan Rektor.

"Listening to Mozart led to a 32% decrease in EDs but listening to Haydn's No 94 caused a 45% increase.

"Listening to Haydn's music led to suppressed epileptiform discharges only in women; in the men, there was an increase of epileptiform discharges.

"We believe the physical 'acoustic' features of the Mozart music affect brain oscillations - or brain waves - which is responsible for reducing EDs."

Prof Rektor added that the Mozart Effect was first conceived in the early nineties but there wasn't concrete data available.

His team, who published the study at the 7th Congress of the European Academy of Neurology, sought to test the theory and found EDs were suppressed by Mozart's composition, while Haydn's song increased EDs in men.

The team performed an acoustic analysis of Mozart's piece and Prof Rektor said that it was not the emotions invoked by the song that helped reduce EDs but instead the acoustic characteristics of the composition.

Experts believe the results may pave way for the development of personalised music therapy for the prevention and management of epileptic seizures.

According to Epilepsy Action, 600,000 people in the UK live with epilepsy - four times higher than those living with Parkinson's.

It affects around one in 100 people in the UK and 87 people are diagnosed with it every day.

Speaking to Sky News, Prof Rektor said that his team have started a new study testing several types of music and are seeking to find music that has anti-epileptic properties in individual patients.

"We will perform and test it in epileptic parties using individualised acoustic patterns," he said.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
Explosive Email Shows Sarah Ferguson Begged Forgiveness from Jeffrey Epstein After Taking His Money
×