Developed by neonatologist Petra Huppi, researcher Manuela Filippa, and composer Andreas Vollenweider, the project involves scanning babies' brains via MRI as they listen and comparing the scans to those of babies who were not exposed to the music. The songs -- short and "much simpler than Mozart," says Huppi -- were composed to help the infants fall asleep, wake up, or interact.
Further research will assess the full benefit of this therapy, but early findings are promising. MRI scans reveal improved brain connectivity, and the songs appear to support the daily rhythm of sleeping and waking -- key to thriving in a noisy NICU and the world beyond.