Research / Training

Fondation Dora is supporting a project to research the effect of music in neonatology, conducted by the University Hospitals of Geneva (HUG). Extreme premature birth is still an issue for contemporary society. Increasingly common, it is the main cause of neonatal death during the first four weeks of life. Among the infants who survive, many will suffer developmental disorders, especially in terms of cognitive deficiencies, learning or behavioural disorders, as well as neurosensory damage.

 

Music therapy: Listening to music activates the neural substrates involved in processing cognitive and socio-emotional functions and can have an effect on the connections formed at an early stage and affected by prematurity. By using magnetic resonance imagery (MRI), researchers can study the effect of music on the structural brain development of a premature baby.
 

The project aims to:

• Observe the effect of music on the physiological constants (heart and respiratory rate, frequency of apnoea and oxygen saturation) of premature infants
   

• Study how premature babies acquire the ability to process acoustic stimuli
  Study the brain development of premature babies, particularly their functional and anatomical connectivity.

 

Music suitable for a newborn’s fragile state has been specially composed, while the mother’s singing voice is also used. The goal is to better understand how premature babies of different gestational ages process a familiar voice, particularly after exposure to music.

 

This research project is directed by Professor Petra Hüppi, Head of the Development and Growth Division at the HUG Children's Hospital.