Listening to Mozart boosts brain power

Listening to just 20 minutes of Mozart may enhance brain functions such as learning and memory, according to new research.

The study found listening to classical music enhanced the activity of genes involved in dopamine secretion and transport, synaptic neurotransmission, learning and memory and down-regulated the genes mediating neurodegeneration.

Several of the up-regulated genes were known to be responsible for song learning and singing in songbirds, suggesting a common evolutionary background of sound perception across species, researchers said.

Listening to music represents a complex cognitive function of the human brain, which is known to induce several neuronal and physiological changes.

However, the molecular background underlying the effects of listening to music is largely unknown.

A Finnish study group has investigated how listening to classical music affected the gene expression profiles of both musically experienced and inexperienced participants.

All the participants listened to W.A. Mozart’s violin concert Nr 3, G-major, K.216 that lasts 20 minutes.

Listening to music enhanced the activity of genes involved in dopamine secretion and transport, synaptic function, learning and memory.