AFFECTS OF MUSIC ON ANIMALS
Another scientific experiment was recently performed to examine the effects of music on the brain. Two researchers Dr. Schrenckenburg, a neurologist and Dr. Bird a physicist were involved in the experiment. They took 36 mice and divided them at birth into 3 categories (C) the control group, (H) the harmonic group (those exposed to classical music with synchronised component rhythmic patterns) and (D) the disharmonic group (those exposed to syncopated music [rock]). For two months the (H) and (D) groups were exposed, night and day, to their respective music, maintained at a sound level of 80-85 decibels. The (C) group was kept in a relatively quite room at 75 dbs. The environments were in all other ways identical.
After these two months of exposure, 12 mice, 4 from each group, were sacrificed and their brains properly prepared and frozen for latter study and comparison with what would be older mice by the time all had been sacrificed for study.
The other 24 mice were exposed to three weeks of maze "training". Then they were given three weeks of rest during which no testing or maze reinforcement occurred. This was followed by a three week post latency period during which the mice were retested to establish the degree of learning and retention. Throughout this process, behaviour changes and discrepancies were carefully noted. At the completion of the maze training, these 24 mice were sacrificed and their brains studied, along with the previous 12. The results of this were that the (C) and (H) groups were very similar and no significant differences appeared. The (D) group showed the following changes: Excess branching of the Neuronal Dentrites; Significant increases in mRNA; Significant decreases in learning retention or memory; Hyperactivity; Aggression, (some of the mice resorted to cannibalism); Inattentiveness.
In the August 10, 1997 Washington Times article “Heavy Metal Makes Killer Mice,” one reads about research by David Merrel. According to the article, Merrel reported that “it was like the music dulled their senses. It shows point blank that hard rock music has a negative effect all around. I had to cut my project short because the hard-rock mice killed each other. None of the classical mice did that at all!”