Health & Fitness

Dr. Alfred Tomatis
If you or your child suffers from any disorder related to brain activity or how the brain processes information, you should know about Dr. Alfred Tomatis. Born in Paris, young Alfred grew up to be an otolaryngologist, or ear, nose, and throat doctor. Intrigued by the study of occupational noise, he began doing research on how noise affects the voice and hearing.

Not long after he began this study did the good doctor find that certain aspects of perceptual hearing are directly related to vocal expression. He found that restoring the ability to hear a sound was directly related to the ability to perceive and comprehend sound on a larger scale. As we all know reading and comprehension are all related to the ability to interpret sound into the logical systems we know as words. The method developed by the award-winning physician are widely used for treatment of many issues associated with learning disabilities.

The Brain and Perceptual Hearing
The Tomatis method is the system upon which much research on how the brain is activated and processes information is based. This method has become a widely used treatment for not only those suffering from learning disabilities, but epilepsy and a treatment for Down Syndrome and other developmental disorders.

The brains activity is greatly stimulated by hearing. By playing varying frequencies in the ears of his patients, the Parisian physician was able to strengthen the inner ear by causing its muscles to contract and relax while the brain processes the frequencies of the sounds. In effect, patients found themselves with improved listening and comprehension, as well as increased energy due to the residual normalized stimulation to the brain.