Description:
There are a range of human reactions to music: from indifference to rapture, from "amusia" (the inability to recognize certain aspects of music) to a synesthetic response that imbues every musical note with its own color and taste. Our sensitivities to music can become dangerous-whether is from songs we simply can't get out of our heads or the non stop musical hallucinations a surprising number of us experience night and day. Yet far more frequently, music goes right: it can help people with Parkinson's disease who cannot otherwise move, give words to stroke patients who cannot otherwise speak, and organize people's memories who suffer from Alzheimer's or amnesia. It is clear that music has a unique power to alter the brain in remarkable and complex ways, and in ways we are only beginning to understand.
Speaker(s):
Dr. Oliver Sacks, neurologist and author, Columbia University
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