text: The Meisenberg Universitat ran a 15 year program on 7500 pregnant women and their babies between 1957 and 1972 (using findings reported by Dr. Joseph Mengela from his experiments at the Oswieczim Klinische in 1944-45).  The chief physicians involved were Drs. Heinrich Schimmelmann (a clinical obstetrician), Gertruda Greundfeld (a clinical psychologist) and Magda Zhitanska (a clinical pediatrician and para psychologist).  The team was headed by Dr. Mikhail Ivanovich Strovankiev (psychiatrist and mathematician) until he retired in 1964 and was replaced by Dr. Gunther Romanovich (psychiatric pediatrician).\n\nThey concluded  from their experiments that the children exposed to Bach and Mozart for at least 5 continuous hours twice weekly during the third trimester of pregnancy and the first 2 years of life were about 25% faster in learning mathematics at the ages of 7 - 14.  Because the study ended, there was apparently no follow-up to determine whether or not the trend continued at later ages.   \n \nThose children likewise exposed to Italian opera were on par with the children not exposed to music at all, while the children exposed to Blues, Jazz and Bavarian folk music were about 10% ahead on the learning curve.  Rock and Roll resulted in about a 5% decline in math skills, but a 15% increase in language abilities, both in German and foreign languages.\n\nSchimmelmann, Greunfeld and Zhitansku postulated that the increased mathematical skills derives from the meticulous mathematical construct of Bach and Mozart,  while the more whimsical lyrical quality of the Italian operas did not engender the mathematical focus of the German selections.  (This may be a conclusion based  more on  propaganda than actual scientific results.)  They also attributed the increased math learning by the children exposed to Blues, Jazz and Bavarian Folk music on the less intricate but inherent mathematical foundation of these forms of music, while concluding that the less mathematical but more free-flowing and innovative rhythms in Rock enhanced the artistic and  imaginative characteristics of subjects, making them receptive to understanding language better, but less able to work problems in math and logic.\n\nThe experiment was a joint effort sponsored by the East German and Soviet governments, in conjunction with related research into para psychological phenomena.  The para psychological components of the study have been largely ignored, but the study did report increased psychic abilities in the children exposed to Rock, which follows from the conclusions reached as mentioned above.\n\nThe study was reported in the July 19, 1976, edition of Pravda and mentioned in the January 24, 1977, edition of Die Zeitung.  It was  largely discounted by the Western scientific community at the time.  To my knowledge, the actual study has never been published in the West and Western criticism was without benefit of reviewing the research.\n\nI became aware of the study while enrolled at Julliard in 1978, but was unable to procure a copy of the study beyond that reported in Pravda and Die Zeitung.  I was so intrigued by the articles that I have retained my notes on them, but unfortunately cannot locate the actual articles.  Sorry. \n\nIf you find anything further on the study, particularly about any follow-up study which may have been done, please post it here.  I had forgotten about the whole affair until reading your question.