Scientists at the University of Geneva are probing the effect of music on brain development in infants who are born prematurely. Their results indicate that listening to music through headphones rather than just hearing ambient noise of the NICU may prompt the babies’ brains to develop more like those of full-term babies. Researchers partnered with an award-winning composer to create a series of soundscapes based on the instruments the infants preferred when they were waking up, falling asleep, or alert and active in their incubators.

CREDIT: STEPHANE SIZONENKO