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Music and the Human Brain: Oliver Sacks

Writer's picture: Mishkat BhattacharyaMishkat Bhattacharya

This is a review of the book Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks. It was published in 2007, but I got to it just now. That's how long my reading queue is (!). A talk by Sacks based on the book is available here.


The introduction is already interesting, as it points out that music seems to have only indirect evolutionary benefits (release of dopamine, bonding) for human beings. Birds, of course, use music (for mating and territoriality), but among the primates, humans are unique in being sensitive to music.


This contrasts to the role music plays in the lives of many people, as a great number of people listen to, enjoy and are passionate about music: together, Taylor Swift and Beyonce have sold 300 million singles in the United States, just as an example.


In his book Sacks discusses, by presenting a number of case histories, the connection of music with various medical aspects of the human organism. Some examples:


Lighting strikes, tumor removals, and strokes have been reported to turn on musical passion, musical 'seizures' - even amazing musical abilities (savantism) - in human beings who previously were not remarkable in that sense. Sacks discusses the anatomical aspects of these phenomena, including a number of interesting cases in which music of some sort incessantly plays on in the patient's mind, sometimes even during sleep.


From the book I learnt that techniques like MRI and dissection can identify a professional musician's brain anatomically (certain areas are more developed than in non-musical brains), while other professions are not so easy to recognize using this approach (maybe they are now, since the book was written more than fifteen years ago).


Sacks also mentions the fact that increased sensitivity to music can occur even in the absence of overt medical events. An example of this is simply the process of aging. This I believe has happened to me - although I loved music even before that age, at around fifty I began to feel the emotions far more deeply than I had before, and found myself sensitive to a far broader range of musical genres than previously. Sacks briefly mentions a case like mine in his book.


Another interesting aspect discussed by Sacks is the relation of speech to music. He mentions the case of a patient who lost his speech after experiencing a stroke, and speech therapy did not help at all, but musical therapy helped him regain his speech substantially.


On the flip side, speech can also help music: the book mentions that musicians who already have exposure to tonal languages such as Chinese and Vietnamese are more likely to have perfect pitch [this study, I was pleased to note (sic!), involved students from the famous Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester].


In his presentation of the effect of music on anatomical motion, Sacks gives examples to show that music can (encourage or) inhibit Tourette's Syndrome, relieve Parkinsonian symptoms, even overcome limb paralysis. Along with this are provided analyses of patients with synesthesia (association of colors and tastes with musical sounds). Another interesting aspect mentioned is the relation of music to memory: some people can memorize anything as long as it is set to music (an example is that of a student who memorized a professor's lecture notes by musicalizing them).


In the book there are examples of music curing depression (the example is from William Styron's classic Darkness Visible), and being used to alleviate PTSD.

Musical ability is a complex skill, as evidenced by the variety of ways in which problems can occur. Among these, Sacks describes loss of melody, harmony, and stereoscopy (ability to infer depth of space through sound perception - the reason why we have two ears).


Conclusion


This is a substantial collection of case histories addressing the role of music in medicine. Sacks writes with authority and elegance, introducing the appropriate literary devices for engaging the reader, and making the technical aspects readable. An updated account of the research in this interesting field would be intriguing and welcome.



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