Aims: To present a review of the so-called «Mozart effect», to explain why Mozart and his sonata K.448 were chosen, and to review the available literature on the treatment of epilepsy with that sonata.
Development: Profuse literature exists on the cerebral mechanisms that allow us to perceive, process and respond to the musical stimulus. Cerebral plasticity, especially in people with musical training, has also been demonstrated. The «Mozart effect» arose from the finding that hearing the sonata K.448 improved cognitive abilities, but the fact that these results may be due not to the music itself but to the listener increasing arousal or enjoyment generated controversy. In this context of debate, a large number of papers about the «Mozart effect» in the field of epilepsy were published, and are reviewed in this work.
Conclusions: The «Mozart effect» has a scientific basis but its nature limits the methodological quality of the research. The music of Mozart, chosen for its exquisite structure, has been able to increase even more the controversy because also it is of the taste of a great majority. It is still far from being consolidated as a non-pharmacological antiepileptic treatment, but it could increase the scientific evidence with studies whose design minimizes the cited confounding factors.
Title: Epilepsia, Mozart y su sonata K.448: es terapeutico el «efecto Mozart»?
Objetivos. Presentar una revision del denominado «efecto Mozart», explicar por que se eligio a Mozart y su sonata K.448, y repasar la bibliografia disponible sobre el tratamiento de la epilepsia con la citada sonata. Desarrollo. Existe abundante bibliografia sobre los mecanismos cerebrales que nos permiten percibir, procesar y responder al estimulo musical. Tambien se ha demostrado la plasticidad cerebral que, en especial el adiestramiento musical, desencadena. El «efecto Mozart» se planteo a raiz de la comprobacion de que la audicion de la sonata K.448 mejoraba habilidades cognitivas, pero el hecho de que esos resultados se puedan deber no a la musica en si, sino a que el oyente aumente su nivel de alerta o disfrute con ella, genero controversia. En este contexto de debate se publico un volumen importante de estudios sobre el «efecto Mozart» en el campo de la epilepsia, que se repasan en este trabajo. Conclusiones. El «efecto Mozart» tiene base cientifica, pero su propia naturaleza limita la calidad metodologica de los estudios. La musica de Mozart, elegida por su exquisita estructura, ha podido aumentar aun mas la polemica porque tambien resulta del gusto de una gran mayoria. Aun esta lejos de consolidarse como tratamiento antiepileptico no farmacologico, pero podria aumentar la evidencia cientifica con estudios cuyo diseño minimice los factores de confusion citados.