Music and the Alzheimer's Brain

One story after another, we hear of Alzheimer's patients who lost their power of speech, recognition yet can still remember their music. Oliver Sacks, a neurologist theorizes that "Music occupies more area of the brain than language does." Music is somehow embedded in the brain, and Alzheimer's patients are able to recall the function of music and somehow express themselves through it.

The book "Musicophilia: Tales of Music and The Brain", Oliver Sacks, the author neurologist describes the Alzheimer's sufferer Woody Geist, who loses everything but music: singing "can give him back himself, and not least, it can charm others, arouse their amazement and admiration - reactions more and more necessary to someone who, in his lucid moments, is painfully aware of his tragic disease and sometimes says that he feels ‘broken inside'." The book was voted as one of the best books of 2007 by the Washington Post. Here is a video clip of what Oliver Sacks has to say.



2 comments:

  1. Miracle Ink says:

    The human brain is like a computer, and musical memories like piano playing are stored on different parts of the brain. This explains why Alheizmer patients can remember the sensations, emotions and the finger movements for piano playing.

  1. Emily Yee says:

    It's really a miracle for someone to have forgotten everything but a talent that live in them. Any video on that? Would like to watch the miracle. ^^

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