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Music helps to build the brains of very premature babies by Neuroscience News

Music helps to build the brains of very premature babies

Music specially composed for preterm babies helps strengthen the development of neural
networks and may help to limit neurodevelopmental delays often experienced by those born
prematurely.
Photo credit: Premature baby listening to music. The image is credited to Stéphane Sizonenko – UNIGE HUG


Source: University of Geneva
In Switzerland, as in most industrialized countries, nearly 1% of children are born “very prematurely”,
i.e. before the 32nd week of pregnancy, which represents about 800 children yearly.

While advances in neonatal medicine now give them a good chance of survival, these children are
however at high risk of developing neuropsychological disorders. To help the brains of these fragile
newborns develop as well as possible despite the stressful environment of intensive care,
researchers at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the University Hospitals of Geneva (HUG),
Switzerland, propose an original solution: music written especially for them. And the first results,
published in theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) in the United States, are surprising: medical imaging reveals that the neural networks of premature infants who have listened
to this music, and in particular a network involved in many sensory and cognitive functions, are
developing much better.

For the full article read here.

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