Core Principles of Alfred Tomatis-excerpted from The Power of Sound

From www.sound-remedies.com/draltom.html

1. The primary function of the ear is to convert sound waves to electrochemical impulses that charge the neocortex of the brain.

2. Sound is a nutrient; we can either charge or discharge the nervous system by the sounds we take in through both air and bone conduction.

3. There is a distinction between hearing and listening. The two are related, but distinct, processes. Hearing is passive; listening is active. This corresponds to the difference between seeing and looking. Listening and looking are active focusing processes.

4. The quality of an individual’s listening ability will affect both spoken and written language development; listening ability also influences communication, thereby shaping the individual’s social development, confidence, and self-image.

5. The active process of listening can be enhanced or refocused by auditory stimulation using musical and vocal sounds rich in high frequencies. This entails the use of filtered and enhanced audiotapes employing the music of Mozart and Gregorian chant. Additionally, Tomatis has invented a device known as the Electronic Ear. One of its functions, accomplished through the effect of electronic gates and filters, is to reestablish the right ear as the dominant ear of hearing.

6. Communication is a process that begins in utero. The unborn child hears as early as the fourth month after conception. Sound actually helps grow the fetus’s brain and nervous system.

7. We can duplicate only the sounds we can hear. This is known as The Tomatis Effect.

"Core Principles of Alfred Tomatis" is excerpted from The Power of Sound, published by Healing Arts Press. (c) 2001 Joshua Leeds. All rights reserved.

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