A group of Israeli doctors from the Tel Aviv University medical centre carried out a small study involving 20 healthy premature babies to look at the effects of music on short-term metabolic efficiency. The study was published in Pediatrics.
The babies were randomly assigned to either exposure to Mozart's music for 30 minutes or no music, then alternative treatment was given the next day. The researchers measured the babies' resting energy expenditure (REE) during the exposure period and comapred the way the babies responded to the music with their metabolism during music-free period. The study did not measure the changes in weight.
The study found that exposure to Mozart's music for 30 minutes reduced the babies' REE, although the mechanism was unclear, it appeared that the music has relaxed the babies and this effect might increase the babies' weight gain. However the researchers were cautious about the clincal implications of their findings and said that more research is needed.
Other research has found the "Mozart effect" has improved the IQ in college students, lowered heart rates, stress level etc, later studies challenged these findings.
Source: Lubetzky R, Mimouni FB, Dollberg S et al. Effect of Music by Mozart on Energy Expenditure in Growing Preterm Infants. Pediatrics Vol. 125 No. 1 January 2010
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