In 1993, the prestigious popular science magazine Nature published the results of an investigation carried out by a team of psychologists and neo-rubiologists from the University of California, according to which the exposure of infants to the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart improved their space-time reasoning, measured through specific tests. This team of researchers led by Frances Rauscher and Gordon Shaw, did nothing more than take the hypothesis that, two years ago, the otorhinolaryngologist Alfred Tomatis had raised in his book Why Mozart? , in which he showed that the music of the Salzburg genius contributed to better brain development. From these two facts, the term "Mozart Effect" became popular worldwide, although new studies have tried to refute the initial conclusions. Is it really an effective method of early stimulation?
Don Campbell's book, The Mozart Effect:Harnessing the Power of Music to Heal the Body, Strengthen the Mind, and Unlock the Creative Spirit , published in 1997, discusses the theory that listening to Mozart can temporarily increase IQ and produce many other beneficial effects on mental function in children and adults. After that book, Campbell would release The Mozart Effect For Kids . In addition, he actively supported the release of Mozart Effect music collections to enhance topics such as rest, rejuvenation, intelligence and learning, creativity and imagination. As you can imagine, this became a commercial boom that has raised suspicions about a possible exaggeration of the specific effects of classical music on the intelligence of those who listen to it, planned for purely commercial purposes (selling books, methods, CDs, etc.)
The musicologist and historian Maynard Solomon, in his work Mozart:A Life , gives an extensive review of the life and work of the composer, in which we can get in touch with the influence that music had on Mozart since he was a child and perhaps that permanent contact with an environment charged with musicality has contributed to the genius that he manifested from the early years. 3 years old. In this sense, we could empirically ensure that listening to music activates our neurocerebral systems and allows us to better develop psychomotor, rhythmic, apprehensive skills, etc.
So is the Mozart Effect just a publicity stunt? Definitely not. Perhaps the term and the marketing strategies associated with the products that this phenomenon has generated throughout the world can call into question. Even teams of researchers have taken the trouble to demonstrate, through studies conducted over the last decade, that there are no significant improvements in brain development after listening to Mozart music for a certain number of minutes. But beyond scientific certainties – always questionable when we talk about art – reality has shown that music, not only Mozart's and not only classical music, contributes to making human beings more sensitive, more open to culture, more receptive to other forms of expression.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's music is generally romantic and relaxing in nature. At various stages of life, parents and school teachers should encourage their children and students to approach all kinds of music, not only stopping at the passive act of listening to it, but also adopting a more active posture, relating it to the historical moment of each work (be it an opera, a symphony, a waltz, a bolero or a salsa), the instruments, the cultures, the languages, etc. This will establish a learning bond that can be enriching enough for the mental development of each child or adolescent.