<p>Ok.  After some additional information has come to light in the comments - initially from @StevenJeuris and through further assistance from @Eff - things look a little different.</p>
<p>Although there was an accepted phenomenon called the <em>Mozart Effect</em> (<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/365611a0" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Rauscher, et al. 1993</a>), the term <em>Schoenberger Effect</em> was coined by Thomas Schoenberger himself and there are no studies I can find to back his claims.  The <em>Mozart Effect</em> was debunked through a 16 year meta-analysis by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2010.03.001" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Pietschnig, et al. (2010)</a> and so the chances of the <em>Schoenberger Effect</em> being valid are slim in my view.</p>
<p>Thomas Schoenberger's blog article titled <a href="http://www.thomasschoenberger.com/blog/music-for-infants" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Music for Infants</a> states that he</p>
<blockquote>
<p>was inspired to write music for infants with the birth of his son, Wolfgang. Schoenberger’s work for infants is composed in the style of musical compositions shown to stimulate the portion of the child’s brain associated with special skills such as music, mathematics, and chess.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The CD cover image provided in the article describes the effect as the <em>Schoenberger Effect</em> and claims to be endorsed by Stevanne Auerbach, <a href="https://www.drtoy.com/about" rel="nofollow noreferrer">also known as Dr. Toy</a></p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/oMwNH.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/oMwNH.jpg" alt="music for infants CD" /></a></p>
<p>Looking at the <em>Schoenberger Effect</em>, there is a Cision PRWeb article (<a href="https://www.prweb.com/releases/2002/12/prweb52834.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Shaw, 2002</a>) which links this term to the <em>Mozart Effect</em></p>
<blockquote>
<p>Back in 1993, U.C. Irvine professor Gordan Shaw started the trend when both He and Dr. Helen Raucher coined the term &quot;Mozart Effect&quot; to describe the powerful effect [certain] classical music has in neural development of infants and babies. Since then, &quot;Mozart Effect&quot; products have glutted the baby market, with most of these products having no connection with the actual research done by Raucher and Shaw.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>See <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/365611a0" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Rauscher, et al. (1993)</a> for details on their study.</p>
<p>Further into Shaw (2002), he states that the Ultimate Baby CD became an underground best seller largely through word of mouth</p>
<blockquote>
<p>which lends credibility to the &quot;Schoenberger Effect&quot; phenomenon.  After all, if mother's swear by it's effects on their own children, there must be some type of reaction present. I listened to the Cd several times and was impressed with the &quot;Bach meets Mozart&quot; quality of the pieces. It's obvious that Schoenberger has tremendous talent as a melodic composer. It' also clear that something is going on with this music that separates it from the rest of the Mozart Effect products. This Cd appears to have some effect on babies. What exactly that effect is remains to be diagnosed by further scientific studies.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>When you couple this with, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2010.03.001" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Pietschnig, et al. (2010)</a> who said</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[F]ormal tests yielded evidence for confounding publication bias, requiring downward correction of effects. The central finding of the present paper however, is certainly the noticeably higher overall effect in studies performed by Rauscher and colleagues than in studies performed by other researchers, indicating systematically moderating effects of lab affiliation. On the whole, there is little evidence left for a specific, performance-enhancing Mozart effect.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>it seems that although there maybe anecdotal evidence for it's effects, the idea that music can have positive effects on infant neural development does not stand up to scientific scrutiny.</p>
<h2>References</h2>
<p>Pietschnig, J., Voracek, M., &amp; Formann, A. K. (2010). Mozart effect–Shmozart effect: A meta-analysis. <em>Intelligence, 38</em>(3), 314-323. doi: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2010.03.001" rel="nofollow noreferrer">10.1016/j.intell.2010.03.001</a></p>
<p>Rauscher, F. H., Shaw, G. L., &amp; Ky, C. N. (1993). Music and spatial task performance. <em>Nature, 365</em>(6447), 611. doi: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/365611a0" rel="nofollow noreferrer">10.1038/365611a0</a> pmid: <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8413624" rel="nofollow noreferrer">8413624</a></p>
<p>Shaw, F. (2002). <em>The mysterious &quot;Schoenberger effect&quot; Fact or fiction?</em> Retrieved from: <a href="https://www.prweb.com/releases/2002/12/prweb52834.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.prweb.com/releases/2002/12/prweb52834.htm</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-17T09:37:48.190Z
Wasn't the Mozart effect also quite controversial? Seem to recall it has been debunked?
Steven Jeuris
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-17T09:48:50.697Z
@StevenJeuris - I have not heard about that.  There are commentaries linked in the pmid page which I have trouble accessing and there are other papers such as https://doi.org/10.1111%2F1467-9280.00345 confirming the effect seems to exist. I haven't seen any debunking papers.  Are you able to provide anything?
Chris Rogers
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-17T09:53:55.377Z
Not from the top of my head, so I might be entirely wrong here.  Just sounds like a classical causation/correlation mixup.
Steven Jeuris
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-17T14:06:07.647Z
The "Mozart Effect" is widely used in the literature now as an example of the replication crisis and publication bias. You can read about it in Richard Haier's book *"The Neuroscience of Intelligence"*, or more specifically in the aptly titled 
meta-analysis paper *["Mozart Effect--Shmozart Effect"](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289610000267)*. I read a lot of intelligence research, and virtually no one *anymore* seriously suggest that listening to Mozart has beneficial effects of increasing cognitive abilities.
Eff
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-17T05:17:10.330Z
2018-12-17T23:49:29.300Z
2020-06-17T09:55:31.633Z
Chris Rogers
<p>Thomas Schoenberger claims his 'Sophia Musik' (the Ultimate Baby CDs) hav many beneficial effects on the brain.  Are you aware of this prolific composer and have any advice regarding his musical claims? </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-16T22:47:48.193Z
Could you provide a link to this claim, and include a summary of some (i.e., the main) beneficial effects that are claimed?
Steven Jeuris
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-06T04:01:42.267Z
I met Steveanne Aurbach, Dr Toy, and knew Thomas very well for 6 years...a very excentric, very intelligent and uniquely different person who intrigues everyone he meets with his mathmatical, musical intelligence.  He has perfect timing and claims that his understanding of numbers is at the basis of his composing abilities.  He has been published in many parent magazines, newspapers, etc.  I suggest you contact him personally thru his sophia musik youtube channel and comment on his musik.  He will most likely get back to you if you sound like a genius.  He could use a good scientific friend.
Mercy Angel
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-06T04:15:01.553Z
Steven, after reading your Bio, I find it very intersting that you would have responded to my question regarding Thomas Schoenberger'e musik.  He, also is Danish and his son, Wolfgang, who is now 18 and attending his first year of college is interested in the same type of technology you seem to be working on.  He is a genius/polymath, much like his father and would be a great contact for you, as well.Thomas responds to most intelligent comments to his music, SophiaMusik and I'm sure you 2 would enjoy getting to know each other and who knows,make some genius effects on this earth!!Good Luck :0)
Mercy Angel
<cognitive>
Composer Thomas Schoenberger's Sophia Musik effect on the brain?
Mercy Angel
# Composer Thomas Schoenberger's Sophia Musik effect on the brain?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-12-16)

Thomas Schoenberger claims his 'Sophia Musik' (the Ultimate Baby CDs) hav many beneficial effects on the brain. Are you aware of this prolific composer and have any advice regarding his musical claims?

**Tags:** cognitive

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Could you provide a link to this claim, and include a summary of some (i.e., the main) beneficial effects that are claimed?  
> **username_0**: I met Steveanne Aurbach, Dr Toy, and knew Thomas very well for 6 years...a very excentric, very intelligent and uniquely different person who intrigues everyone he meets with his mathmatical, musical intelligence.  He has perfect timing and claims that his understanding of numbers is at the basis of his composing abilities.  He has been published in many parent magazines, newspapers, etc.  I suggest you contact him personally thru his sophia musik youtube channel and comment on his musik.  He will most likely get back to you if you sound like a genius.  He could use a good scientific friend.  
> **username_0**: Steven, after reading your Bio, I find it very intersting that you would have responded to my question regarding Thomas Schoenberger'e musik.  He, also is Danish and his son, Wolfgang, who is now 18 and attending his first year of college is interested in the same type of technology you seem to be working on.  He is a genius/polymath, much like his father and would be a great contact for you, as well.Thomas responds to most intelligent comments to his music, SophiaMusik and I'm sure you 2 would enjoy getting to know each other and who knows,make some genius effects on this earth!!Good Luck :0)  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2018-12-17. Score: 2

Ok. After some additional information has come to light in the comments - initially from @StevenJeuris and through further assistance from @username_3 - things look a little different.

Although there was an accepted phenomenon called the *Mozart username_3ect* ([Rauscher, et al. 1993](https://doi.org/10.1038/365611a0)), the term *Schoenberger username_3ect* was coined by Thomas Schoenberger himself and there are no studies I can find to back his claims. The *Mozart username_3ect* was debunked through a 16 year meta-analysis by [Pietschnig, et al. (2010)](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2010.03.001) and so the chances of the *Schoenberger username_3ect* being valid are slim in my view.

Thomas Schoenberger's blog article titled [Music for Infants](http://www.thomasschoenberger.com/blog/music-for-infants) states that he

> was inspired to write music for infants with the birth of his son, Wolfgang. Schoenberger’s work for infants is composed in the style of musical compositions shown to stimulate the portion of the child’s brain associated with special skills such as music, mathematics, and chess.

The CD cover image provided in the article describes the effect as the *Schoenberger username_3ect* and claims to be endorsed by Stevanne Auerbach, [also known as Dr. Toy](https://www.drtoy.com/about)

[![music for infants CD](https://i.sstatic.net/oMwNH.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/oMwNH.jpg)

Looking at the *Schoenberger username_3ect*, there is a Cision PRWeb article ([Shaw, 2002](https://www.prweb.com/releases/2002/12/prweb52834.htm)) which links this term to the *Mozart username_3ect*

> Back in 1993, U.C. Irvine professor Gordan Shaw started the trend when both He and Dr. Helen Raucher coined the term "Mozart username_3ect" to describe the powerful effect [certain] classical music has in neural development of infants and babies. Since then, "Mozart username_3ect" products have glutted the baby market, with most of these products having no connection with the actual research done by Raucher and Shaw.

See [Rauscher, et al. (1993)](https://doi.org/10.1038/365611a0) for details on their study.

Further into Shaw (2002), he states that the Ultimate Baby CD became an underground best seller largely through word of mouth

> which lends credibility to the "Schoenberger username_3ect" phenomenon. After all, if mother's swear by it's effects on their own children, there must be some type of reaction present. I listened to the Cd several times and was impressed with the "Bach meets Mozart" quality of the pieces. It's obvious that Schoenberger has tremendous talent as a melodic composer. It' also clear that something is going on with this music that separates it from the rest of the Mozart username_3ect products. This Cd appears to have some effect on babies. What exactly that effect is remains to be diagnosed by further scientific studies.

When you couple this with, [Pietschnig, et al. (2010)](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2010.03.001) who said

> [F]ormal tests yielded evidence for confounding publication bias, requiring downward correction of effects. The central finding of the present paper however, is certainly the noticeably higher overall effect in studies performed by Rauscher and colleagues than in studies performed by other researchers, indicating systematically moderating effects of lab affiliation. On the whole, there is little evidence left for a specific, performance-enhancing Mozart effect.

it seems that although there maybe anecdotal evidence for it's effects, the idea that music can have positive effects on infant neural development does not stand up to scientific scrutiny.

## References

Pietschnig, J., Voracek, M., & Formann, A. K. (2010). Mozart effect–Shmozart effect: A meta-analysis. *Intelligence, 38*(3), 314-323. doi: [10.1016/j.intell.2010.03.001](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2010.03.001)

Rauscher, F. H., Shaw, G. L., & Ky, C. N. (1993). Music and spatial task performance. *Nature, 365*(6447), 611. doi: [10.1038/365611a0](https://doi.org/10.1038/365611a0) pmid: [8413624](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8413624)

Shaw, F. (2002). *The mysterious "Schoenberger effect" Fact or fiction?* Retrieved from: <https://www.prweb.com/releases/2002/12/prweb52834.htm>

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Wasn't the Mozart effect also quite controversial? Seem to recall it has been debunked?  
> **username_2**: @StevenJeuris - I have not heard about that.  There are commentaries linked in the pmid page which I have trouble accessing and there are other papers such as https://doi.org/10.1111%2F1467-9280.00345 confirming the effect seems to exist. I haven't seen any debunking papers.  Are you able to provide anything?  
> **username_1**: Not from the top of my head, so I might be entirely wrong here.  Just sounds like a classical causation/correlation mixup.  
> **username_3**: The "Mozart username_3ect" is widely used in the literature now as an example of the replication crisis and publication bias. You can read about it in Richard Haier's book *"The Neuroscience of Intelligence"*, or more specifically in the aptly titled  meta-analysis paper *["Mozart username_3ect--Shmozart username_3ect"](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289610000267)*. I read a lot of intelligence research, and virtually no one *anymore* seriously suggest that listening to Mozart has beneficial effects of increasing cognitive abilities.  

---

