Study reveals music helps in building brains of premature babies

It is known that a vast majority of neural growth for a baby happens during last trimester, but which can be disrupted due to premature birth, leading to disorders such as learning problems. A new study shows that music can help in growth of such premature babies.

According to an exciting new research, specially composed music can assist brain growth in premature babies, hence leading to neural development just like those of full-term infants.

The team investigated which sounds and instruments would be the best for premature babies. It was theorized that calming and pleasant sounds would be the most appropriate at negating the stressful experience of premature birth, as per New Atlas.

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Composer Andreas Vollenweider wrote three eight-minute therapeutic musical pieces to experiment with different sounds on newborn babies. Vollenweider created three specific musical pieces based around instruments that the babies best responded to.

The instruments that created the most reactions were the harps, bells and an Indian snake charmers’ flute, called the punji. The extremely agitated children calmed down almost immediately, as their attention was drawn to music.

The first of the three pieces was played to babies in an ICU just as they were waking up, the second was played to them during their waking hours, while the third was played while they were falling asleep, as per IFL Science.

The team used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) for scanning the brains of the premature babies. They found that the neurological architecture of those that had been exposed to music was much more similar to that of a full-term baby, as compared to those that didn’t hear the music. The babies receiving musical treatments showed significant improvements across a number of neural networks. Their functional connectivity was increased, and the overall brain network was enhanced.

Now, the first children enrolled in the project are 6-year-olds, at which age cognitive problems begin to be detectable. The team now plans to conduct a second part of the study on the same children to conduct a full cognitive and socio-emotional assessment and observe whether the positive outcomes measured in their first weeks of life have been sustained.