Listening to Mozart can reduce seizures in people with epilepsy
Listening to Mozart can reduce seizures in people with epilepsy, a new study has revealed.
Researchers have found that regularly listening to the Austrian composer’s music helps reduce the number of seizures among epilepsy patients.
Epilepsy, the most common serious neurological disorder, affects around half a million people across the UK, many of whom experience crippling seizures on a regular basis.
While people with epilepsy can take different types of anti-seizure medication, for 30 per cent of patients, it is not enough to stop them.
The study, published in the journal Epilepsia Open, means that Mozart's sonata could be used as a "supplemental therapeutic option" for patients.
The research team asked 13 epilepsy patients to listen to Mozart's "Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major, K. 448", one of the few compositions composed for two pianos, every day for three months.
They then swapped the sonata for a "scrambled version", which had similar features but was shuffled at random and lacked any rhythm.
Participants seizure medication was kept constant throughout and they were asked to keep "seizure diaries" to document the frequency of the number of incidents.
The study found that all participants except one exhibited a reduction in their seizure counts during the treatment period and one participant even became seizure‐free during the three months of daily listening to Mozart K.448.
This was not observed during the “scrambled version”, the study said.
Study lead author Dr Marjan Rafiee, of Toronto Western Hospital, said: "In the past 15 to 20 years, we have learned a lot about how listening to one of Mozart's compositions in individuals with epilepsy appears to demonstrate a reduction in seizure frequency.
"But, one of the questions that still needed to be answered was whether individuals would show a similar reduction in seizure frequency by listening to another auditory stimulus - a control piece - as compared to Mozart."
Dr Rafiee added: "Our results showed daily listening to the first movement of Mozart K.448 was associated with reducing seizure frequency in adult individuals with epilepsy.
"This suggests that daily Mozart listening may be considered as a supplemental therapeutic option to reduce seizures in individuals with epilepsy."
The study notes that the exact neural mechanisms underlying reducing seizures by listening to music “have not been determined yet” but some studies have suggested a potential mechanism involving activation of different cortical areas while listening to music.
It adds that the existence of auditory stimulation of the brain while listening to this piece could be related to the presence of the unique long‐term periodicities in Mozart K.448.
The Canadian team now hopes to conduct a larger study with more patients over a longer period of time to build on their promising results.
