Brain responds to music, when all else fails.
April 25th 2008 06:25
Signature Tune
Just what could be music's strongest ways of moving all of us, even when we may not wish to be moved?
Answer: A musical species we humans are, with music occupying more areas of the brain than language does, says Oliver Sacks in "Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain."
One man after being struck by lightning was suddenly inspired to become a pianist at age 42. To people with a condition termed "amusia," a symphony can sound like the clattering of pots and pans. To some, a catchy tune unstoppably takes them into hours of mental replay. For others, musical hallucinations assault them night and day.
Yet for far more people, music goes not wrong but powerfully right. Sacks once worked with victims of sleeping sickness, unable to move; yet they would come alive to music and dance and sing, only to retreat to their frozen state once the music stopped (from psychologist Frances Rauscher). Some stroke victims lose the ability to speak — unless music empowers their mind and tongue. In cases where minds are ravaged by Alzheimer's or amnesia, music can calm and organize memories.
One man suffered such severe brain damage he could not respond to his children nor recall anything more than 10 seconds after it happened, yet he could conduct an entire symphony!
Remarkably, music "may have great therapeutic potential for patients with a variety of neurological conditions.
Extracted from an article by By Bill Sones and Rich Sones Ph.D. on the web.
So if nothing else works, how about trying music, what do you think?
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