Mozart and Seizures

          Hello, again.  Its been a long time since I posted anything.  I did find a medical artical worth sharing.  It is an artical i found on Pubmed.gov.  The United States National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health online medical library that our medical doctors go to for reliable irrefutable scientific facts.  It was study done about Mozart's K. 448 Piano Sonata for two pianos in D as a potential therapy for seizures.  There are other studies done with music on pubmed i haven't had time to read all of them yet.  But here is the link http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24410973.  I know a gentlemen who use to play Mozart for his son that had seizures and he claimed it helped.  That is when I went looking and found these articals on pubmed.  Like anything it is probably a good idea to let you doctor know if you choose to try this.  I would personally ask him about it first and see what he think.  Mozart's music is very cheap even for good recordings, the free stuff is usually low quality I have found.  I dont know if the quality of the recordings will have an effect on the effect of the music may have.  Classical music is much more enjoyable with higher quality record's in my opinion.  There is usually much that goes on that is offten missed and not picked up in lower quality recordings.  Also I am not aware of any bad side effects from listening to Mozart!  Cheap, might work, no bad side effects.  I would try it if I had seizures!  I am not a doctor or anything but if you have questions about it ask your doctor and he will be a lot more likely to listen if you say its a pubmed artical :) Here is another artical about Mozarts K. 545 mimicing k 448.  The K numbering system is just a catalog number of pieces.  Another tip about looking for classical music, a lot of the time, you can only find one movement or so of a piece of music.  So to know you are getting the entire piece of music look it up before you buy something. K 448 has 3 movements

What Secretary of Education Arne Duncan Has To Say About Arts education

“I believe that arts education can help build the case for the importance of a well-rounded, content-rich curriculum in at least three ways. First, the arts significantly boost student achievement, reduce discipline problems, and increase the odds that students will go on to graduate from college. Second, arts education is essential to stimulating the creativity and innovation that will prove critical to young Americans competing in a global economy. And last, but not least, the arts are valuable for their own sake, and they empower students to create and appreciate aesthetic works.” 
Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education

Harmony Project

I came across the Harmony Project while watching the TV series, "Turning Point" on BYU TV.   It is a very fabulous thing that is going on.  It is a music program that is, well I will let you read ir for yourself.  Go to
http://www.harmony-project.org/ and read about it there.  Below is some research that I have gotten off of that website.  There are more stories and research about music programs helping children in many ways like the Harmony Project does, through out the rest of my blog.  Also check out the video link in the left column of my blog "The Creativity Factor"  
 
Harmony Project programs are research-based. I developed Harmony

1. A robust body of literature shows the following. Tiny kids

want to learn everything, and they want to learn it now!

academic motivation (natural curiosity) of 3rd graders tends to be stably

and predictably high. For every year a child remains in school, however,

intrinsic academic motivation plummets. Ie., kids show up interested and

seeking mastery experiences, and the things we do with kids in schools

tends to extinguish their curiosity and desire to learn. (See 2, below, for

the exception.)

References:

Harter, S. (1981). A new self-report scale of instrinsic versus extrinsic

orientation in the classroom: motivational and informational components.

Developmental Psychology, Vol 17(3), 300-312.

Lepper, M.R., Corpus, J.H., Iyengar, S.S. (2005). Intrinsic and extrinsic

motivational orientations in the classroom: Age differences and academic

correlates. Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol 97(2), 184-196.

Makri-Botsari, E. (1999). Academic instrinsic motivation: Developmental

differences and relations to perceived scholastic competence, locus of

control and achievement. Evaluation and Research in Education, Vol 13(3),

157-171.

Intrinsic

2. Shirley Brice Heath, a linguistic anthropologist at Stanford

(now at Brown), wanted to learn what kids, ages 8 - 18, do in

their discretionary non-school hours.

conducted a 10-year qualitative research study, embedding ethnographers

in 124 different after-school programs throughout the country. She

transcribed some two million words of recorded conversation. All the

students involved in after school programs had benefited relative to peers

who had not engaged in after school programs. But, relative to students

who had participated in sports programs or community service programs

(like scouting, religious clubs, 4H, etc.), arts-engaged kids sounded like

they came from a different universe. Heath determined that, hands down,

arts-based programs produced the most powerful and enduring pro-social

impact on young people. The effect was particularly striking for

disadvantaged students, who tended to self-select into arts-based programs

at greater rates than did their more advantaged peers.

Heath's study demonstrates that arts-engaged students tend to remain

curious, engaged, and interested in the process of their own learning and

development -- a striking "exception" to the downward motivation trend

described in #1, above.

Reference:

To answer the question, shehttp://www.aep-arts.org/files/publications/ChampsReport.pdf

Imaginative Actuality: Learning in the Arts during the Nonschool

Hours Shirley Brice Heath with Adelma Roach, page 19 The article on page 1 of the compendium is also of note. It describes an analysis of data from the National Educational Longitudinal Survey done by James Catterall and colleagues. Music-engaged high school students performed significantly better in math and language. Students with high levels of music engagement scored even higher. The effect persisted for disadvantaged students.

http://www.aep-arts.org/files/publications/ChampsReport.pdf

Involvement in the Arts and Human Development: General Involvement and Intensive Involvement in Music and Theater Arts James S. Catterall, Richard Chapleau and John Iwanaga, page 1

3. The RAND Corporation followed up on Heath's work to

essentially answer the following question. "Do all arts programs

produce powerful and enduring pro-social benefits, or are there

specific factors within high-performing arts programs that

account for the powerful pro-social benefit observed?"

RAND's landmark "Arts and Prosocial Impact" studies answered the

question. Quality instruction was necessary, but insufficient to produce the

prosocial benefits observed. There were, indeed, a handful of specific

factors besides quality instruction that were common to the highestperforming arts-based youth programs.

RAND, Arts & Prosocial Impact:

http://www.rand.org/pubs/drafts/DRU1887.html

4. The question remains: How are quality arts programs

(containing the elements identified by the RAND study) able to

impact students' social and emotional well-being and improve

academic motivation?

University of Rochester researchers Richard M. Ryan and Edward L. Deci.

Their "Self Determination Theory" posits three essential psychological

needs: the need for autonomy, for competence, and for relatedness. Using

an experimental design, Ryan and Deci showed that boosting students’

autonomy, competence, and relatedness resulted in statistically significant

increases in students' intrinsic motivation.

Quality arts education programs (that include the elements identified in

the RAND study) improve students' competence, autonomy, and

relatedness with laser-like precision. A student learns to play an

instrument herself (autonomy). Over time she develops the ability to play

it better, and to play increasingly difficult pieces (competence). And she

performs these pieces before family and peers -- either on her own or as

part of an ensemble (relatedness).

Reference: Ryan, R.M., Deci, E.L. (2000). Self-determination theory and

the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being.

American Psychologist, Vol 55, 68-78.

Self Determination Theory:

The answer can be found in the work ofhttp://www.psych.rochester.edu/SDT/;

5. How Music Learning Shapes Students’ Brains

Dr. Nina Kraus, Director of the Auditory Neuroscience Lab at

Northwestern University has studied how music learning shapes the brain and the abilities of music students for two decades. She has found that, over time, music learning shapes the development of the brain and nervous system in a way that improves students’ language learning and acquisition and also improves a student’s ability to listen in a noisy environment and hear the important messages, despite the accompanying noise. The following link contains short videos that provide the opportunity to listen to Dr. Kraus describe her research.

http://www.soc.northwestern.edu/brainvolts/#

6. Grades, Behavior and Mood

In our most recent impact evaluation survey, a high proportion of students' parents indicated that - since joining the Harmony Project - their child has shown improvement in his/her Grades (82%), Behavior (82%), Mood (80%), and Health (70%). These responses were recently validated in a research study conducted by Michael Uy, a UC Berkeley graduate who was awarded the Judith Lee Stronach Baccalaureate Prize to spend a year comparing The Harmony Project with Venezuela's world-renowned El Sistema youth orchestra program (i.e., the program that produced Gustavo Dudamel, incoming Los Angeles Philharmonic Music Director). The study

– based on in-depth interviews with students and parents of both

programs – found that 90% of Harmony Project students showed

improved focus and discipline, 73% improved academic achievement, 71%

improved family communication, 44% improved self-esteem.

7. Preventing School Drop-Out; High School Graduation;

College Attendance

Below is a link to a recent study conducted by the University of California

Santa Barbara which reports drop-out rates for cities throughout

California. Drop-out rates for Los Angeles were reported to be 50% for the

entire city. Drop-out rates for low-income communities can be as high as

70%, or even higher. Harmony Project operates programs in four of LA’s

12 high crime “gang reduction zones”. Our students come from lowincome

homes (family income below 200% of the federal poverty level), yet

they all remain enrolled in school.

http://cdrp.ucsb.edu/dropouts/pubs_cityprofiles.htm

In 2010, 100% of Harmony Project’s high school graduates went on to

college. Each was the first in the family to attend college.

8. 21st Century Learning skills:

Harmony Project participation supports the following 21st Century

Learning Skills:

Core Subjects: English, Reading / Language Arts, Arts

21st Century Context: Global Awareness

Harmony Project students discover the world and other cultures through

the music they learn. They also participate in classes with students from

diverse cultures and backgrounds.

Learning & Thinking Skills Critical thinking & problem-solving

skills Communication skills Creativity & Innovation skills Collaboration

skills Contextual learning skills

The process of learning to play a musical instrument takes place over

multiple years, and develops student discipline, persistence, strategic

thinking, creativity and accountability. Ensemble participation develops

the ability to collaborate well with others.

Life Skills Leadership Ethics Accountability

Harmony Project students develop leadership skills as Teaching Assistants

and Peer Mentors within the program. They develop a personal ethical

framework and moral values through service-learning opportunities within

the program. And they learn accountability by participating in ensembles

and youth orchestras where the quality of the performance depends upon

each member learning and performing their part well.

21st Century Learning Skills (

http://p21.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=254&Item

id=119

40 developmental assets from Search Institute

org/content/what-are-developmental-assets

);http://www.searchinstitute.

Focus group interviews of Harmony Project students and parents show

that Harmony Project participation develops 30 or more of the 40

developmental assets identified by the Search Institute. This reflects a

level of social support associated with personal resilience and a significant

reduction in students’ problem alcohol use, violence and school problems

There is this and more information at http://www.harmony-project.org/ Check it out! 

Harmony Project – Research Basis Summary Prepared by

Margaret Martin, MPH, DrPH Harmony Project Founder

Project as a youth development and mentoring program targeting students with the greatest needs and the fewest resources. Utilizing a public health perspective, we focused on the after school environment, when children are at greatest risk of accident, injury, assault, abuse, criminal activity, and substance use. I didn't know about Dr. Abreu or El Sistema at the time I founded Harmony Project, but I began this work for essentially the same reasons, and we continue to learn as much as possible from the work being done in Venezuela and elsewhere. The following is a narrative describing

key pieces of research upon which Harmony Project programs are based.

Micheal Ballam Videos

Don't forget about Dr. Ballam's Videos I have in the left column on the page. Good stuff!

More Info

Here is a link to more info Michael Ballam has. Some of the info can also be found in this blog, but there is some info that isn't in this blog too. http://www.ufoc.org/index.php?p_resource=about_ballam_music