Our Little Nicholas

Expecting Moms have been hearing advice from their doctors or from other people about the legendary “MOZART EFFECT“. I have been curious about this piece of information as well. Music-lover as I am, I found it really interesting to know that the mathematical area of the brain is situated in close proximity to the music centre, development and enhancement of one area would have a similar effect on others nearby. Hmmm… Maybe this is the reason why I love Mathematics and Music? And that I love numbers and problems and solutions as much as musical notes, lyrics and rhythms?

But what really is the “Mozart Effect”? Is it true that if a baby (moreso in the womb) listens to Mozart, he/she’ll grow smarter than those who don’t? Shucks! I always believe that intelligence runs on the blood, it’s on my genes honey! Well, what’s behind the popular Mozart concept? Where did it come from? Is it a fact? A myth? What does the concept really mean? If it really makes one smarter, how?

Now, I’ve never really done a thorough research about the subject in question but as far as I know, this study has been proven to be true on College students but never on babies. For how can one researcher know that a certain music has a certain effects on babies? They can’t read minds, they can’t really judge a baby’s action. Babies can’t talk, they can demonstrate certain abilities but how can one prove that such abilities were brought about by Mozart?

According to one baby-parenting site however, there is in fact a connection between intelligence and exposure to music. Meaning, exposing babies/children to music early in their lives will cause the neurons in their brain to fire up and linking them to other neurons to perform a series of connections called synapses. Science tells us that the more synapses are formed in the brain the better the chance of a baby to become intellectual.

Spatial-temporal reasoning is the ability to think in patterns and pictures, and is crucial in math, in particular, in learning proportional reasoning, The [current] school system teaches only language-based math equations, word problems and memorizations. But students need to understand the concepts behind math, and it’s spatial-temporal reasoning that helps them visualize a problem at a higher level. Einstein
said that’s how he thought when he wrote down his equations.

Playing Mozart’s music to a baby in hopes that her brain will become better hardwired seems like an obvious theory - but is it the perfect match? Studies have shown that playing most forms of classical music can create a more positive environment and therefore can be beneficial, however - if you want to specifically prepare your baby’s brain for enhanced spatial-temporal reasoning (understanding and being able to SEE the concepts behind math) - then you need to look deeper than just any classical music.

Specifically, a baby’s brain is an enormous potential, just sitting there, waiting to understand things.
Science now knows that Mozart’s music is a “key” that opens the door to higher math understanding and is matched to a college-level brain. Therefore it follows that a baby’s brain - being much simpler and lacking fundamental understanding - would experience the same higher level of understanding while hearing music that is equally suited.

I’m not really sure if a Mozart piece would do the trick or not. I can try it though. I’m sure however that with or without Mozart, my Little Nicholas will be smart! How’s that for modesty?