Music May Help to Build the Brains of Premature Babies
Approximately 1% of children worldwide are born very prematurely, that is, before the 32nd week of pregnancy. Advances in neonatal medicine now give them a good chance of survival and the vast majority are able to survive. However, half of the survivors develop neurodevelopmental disorders, especially learning disabilities, attention or emotional disorders, in later years. This is because the brains of premature babies are still immature, and brain development continues under very different conditions than in the intensive care unit, incubator, or in the womb.
Researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the University Hospitals of Geneva (HUG), Switzerland, have launched a study to provide a more comforting environment for premature babies and help them develop as much as possible. The hearing system of babies in the womb becomes functional at an early stage, so the researchers collaborated with composer Andreas Vollenweider to create music specific to their condition, thinking that music would help them. The first results, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) in the United States, were quite surprising. The research reveals that the neural networks of premature babies who listen to specially created music develop much better, especially the network involved in many sensory and cognitive functions. If you want to take a look at the full research, here is the research link. If you want to take a look, here is another similar study.
This research is revolutionary. Frankly, the results are truly surprising, and it's really great that music helps build premature babies' brains. It is already known that music has many benefits because many studies reveal the benefits of music. And maybe there are many more benefits that we don't know about, so I love seeing this kind of research, hopefully there will be more research in the future. Love music for a beautiful world and healthy life.
Enjoy the music and stay with Love.
