Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain

The human mind was created to perform in most amazing ways, even when what is considered major limitations. Oliver Sacks vivid descriptions of many of these remarkable experiences with music is a captivating read.

After I finished reading this book, I found the title of this book very meaningful. The full title of this book is Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain. If you love music, you will get to love brain. If you love brain, you will get to love music. If you love both like I do, well, this is it.

Oliver Sacks is an author of several different best sellers. Surprisingly, he is also a physician and neuroscientist at Columbia University medical center. However, don't worry! As all other comments have mentioned below, you will find his literary style of writing make you comfortable in understanding science. He translates great volume of professional articles into story-telling and straightforward manner. He will not lose your interest in reading the book because he has got exciting stories on his patients he come across every day.

This book, Musicophilia, deals with everything that has to do with music and brain ranging from neurologic disorders such as aphasia to special stories such as person who falls in love with music after he got stroke by thunder. Largely these chapters are divided into four parts. The first and the second parts are focused on strange individuals who are haunted by music and people who are heavily affected by music either positively or negatively in daily life. In the third part, it talks about how music can affect your brain memory, movement, and disorders. In the last part, it talks about emotions, identity of self, and disorders related music and brain.

`Musicophilia enriched my scientific knowledge!'

The book helped me to expand vast knowledge on neuroscience in biomedical engineering elective course. During my neuroscience class, we learned various different aspects of brain ranging from the basic level brain and neural structures to the mechanisms of sensory and motor system. As I was reading Musicophilia, there were a lot of topics that goes along with what I learned in class, and Musicophila gave musical touch that enriched my knowledge about brain.

One of the interesting findings was the effect of music on brain development. The author explains how musicians have enlarged increased volumes of gray matter in motor cortex, auditory cortex, cerebellum, and corpus callosum. (The corpus callosum is a thick band of nerve fibers that divides the cerebrum into left and right hemispheres, and this part of brain has critical role in communicating information in between those two hemispheres.)

There is one whole chapter devoted to imagery and imagination of music. In this chapter, author talks about this studies carried out by Robert Zatorre, and this studies show that imagining music can activate the auditory cortex as strongly as listening to it. Also, if you imagine playing musical instrument, it stimulates not only motor cortex, but also auditory cortex. This is heavily related to the concept that I learned during neuroscience class, of comparison between efference copy and expectation.
In my neuroscience class, during visual system lecture, I learned this concept of perceptual fill in of blank spots. This is visual illusionary effect revealing how the brain normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. Oliver Sacks discusses this illusionary effect on auditory system with 1960s experiments on `white Christmas effect.' When universally known Bing Crosby version of this song was played, some subjects heard it when the volume was turned down to near zero. Author calls this effect "fill in" by involuntary musical imagery, and he goes on and explains this effect in parallel with brain structure. There was greater activation or lighting up in auditory association areas. These two illusions in two different systems suggest that your senses heavily rely on your brain at the same as your sensory inputs.

`Musicophilia's and music therapy'

As a biomedical engineer, I had biggest compassion toward study cases on patients with neurologic dysfunction and his therapeutic approach to those people among the many different musical love stories he talks about.

I have a good friend mine from my high school, and her dad has gone through tough times for several years for having a rare illness that is similar to Parkinson's disease. Making the matter worse for my friend, this illness is known to be a hereditary disease. These days, one of the most common and effective treatments of Parkinson's disease is done through L-dopa, which is precursor of dopamine that can get through your blood brain barrier. Author talks about another great cure for Parkinson's disease that existed since 1960s, and effectiveness of them is fully capable exceeding that of L-dopa. As you expected, it is music and dance. Parkinson's disease patient's most distinctive symptom is unnatural flow of movement, and there movements are either most of time frozen or excessively accelerated. However, if you observe more carefully, they also have problem in flow of perception, thoughts, and even feelings. Author mentions that their fundamental problem is their inability to initiate movements spontaneously, and this disease comes from dysfunction on your subcortical machinery, especially basal ganglia, that control automatic enaction and succession of movements. Something is preventing or inhibiting proper activation of these parts, and music comes into play right here. Music, outside stimulus, can activate this subcortical machinery, and, as Oliver Sacks put, patients dance out of frame. Author shows many different stories and studies where patients jump out of frame through activities like playing piano and dancing Argentino Tango. He emphasizes that one of the most critical element in this therapy for Parkinson's disease is a rhythm. However, this treatment is does not have long lasting effects more than few minutes, but studies are still going on to improve this.

Another interesting therapeutic approach was done on verbal dysfunction such as aphasia, impairment of language ability. This involves not only forgotten vocabularies and grammars, but also lost feeling of rhythms and inflection of speech. Here comes a stunning part. Whenever, author meets his aphasia patients, he sings them "Happy Birthday" to them, and all of their patients are capable of join in and sing the tunes, and half of them even get those words write. Question is, as author puts, "can language embedded in unconscious automatism be `released' for conscious, propositional use?" Answer is yes, and author shows various study cases on this. Most effective they were melodic intonation therapy, and some of these patients, at six weeks through this intense therapy, and he was capable of carrying on short, meaningful conversations. If you question how this is capable, author goes on and explains possible reasons through three different studies from 1970s, 1990s, and recent work. Most of these studies are done through imaging techniques looking at which brains parts are activated under certain circumstances. He talks about possible candidate of Broca's area, `right Broca's area(fake)', fronto-temporal network in right hemisphere, and lastly cortical plasticity to explain how music therapy works for patients with verbal dysfunctions. If you curious how this actually works, I definitely recommend getting this book.

There is proverb saying, "do not judge your book by cover." If you ask me about my favorite part of the book, I would confidently say the cover of the book. It shows picture of author himself, Oliver Sacks, listening to music with `musicophilia(love of music)' in his face on the background color of orange, which gives a warm to overall imagery of this book cover. His words have warmth in it. He has great compassion about his patients. He actually cares about them so much that most of the cases and studies start with their real name and their brief life stories. This love will drag you into this book, `musicophilia,' and even greater one, music.

I truly fellt Dr Sacks captured a human and scholarly read in this book. Oftentimes people will write for the scholarly and subsequently bore the pants off of the human. When I type human I recognize we are all both but some writing uses phrases and verbage that the average would be perplexed past page 1. His concepts and stories enhanced that information creating a more human side to his works.

I am a pianist & a medical professional; this book seemed like the perfect pick. Sacks is a good author in the sense that he is thorough, clear and detailed. However, it got very redundant, patient case studies started to sound the same, and his points were repetitive (I even found myself flipping back to old chapters to make sure I wasn't crazy: was I re-reading the same thing over and over?) I also found it frustrating that Sacks would introduce concepts but never delve into the specific anatomy or reasoning behind the cause of certain musical phenomenons. Perhaps this is because we really don't know why these phenomenons happen. Either way, it got very boring. Also, as a musician, I already understand/appreciate the complexity of music and its effect on the brain/human experience. I was hoping Sacks' book would introduce new ideas or complexities between music and physiology but that did not happen for me, which was disappointing.

If you love how this neurobiologist thinks ("Awakenings", "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat", "Hallucinations") You will just love this book.

Musicophilia...Love of music. He explains how our brains have evolved to love music...and then goes on to explain why some of us LOVE jazz, classics or hip hop and rap.

His books are NOT easy reading. This is post-graduate med school stuff. But anyone can grasp the central tenets.

Enjoy this book!

I enjoyed this read immensely. Sacks has shown that responsiveness to music is essential to our makeup. This book is like no other book he has penned. He has opened himself up to show where he is most alive.

The New York Times has labeled Oliver Sacks, author of Musicophilia, "one of the great clinical writers of the twentieth century." Oliver Sacks, M.D. is a neurologist, as well as a professor of clinical neurology at NYU's medical school. His primary interests in the field include neurological adaptation, memory and consciousness, and hallucinations. He has published thirteen books to date, several of which have become bestsellers, including Awakenings, The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat, and Musicophilia. His works are non-fiction books that embody his passion for neurology, touching upon extraordinary topics within the science that he has witnessed throughout his over forty-year career. Musicophilia was my first experience with Sacks' writing, and I found it to be an extraordinary piece of work that drew me in.

Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain is written as a collection of short stories about individuals who have been impacted by music in peculiar and often life-changing ways. The very diverse and extraordinary cases presented in Musicophilia all employ music as either a source of misery or a source of relief. "Musicophilia" literally translates to "love of music," with the Greek suffix philia meaning "love." Although the title is appropriate for a portion of the cases presented in the book, there are quite a few cases in the book where the patient is tortured by music. Each of these cases is unique, and presented in a straightforward manner that anyone without a science background can easily understand. The book is divided into four parts, with different underlying themes. Musicophilia certainly sheds light on the ways in which music can have an exceedingly powerful effect, both in a positive, and a negative way.

The first part of Musicophilia addresses topics such as musicogenic epilepsy, musical hallucinations, and sudden onsets of musicophilia. The book opens with the tale of Tony Cicoria, an orthopedic surgeon, who was struck by lightning in a telephone booth during a thunderstorm. Upon being struck, he is thrown backwards, and has an out-of-body experience, where he sees everything that was happening to him as an outsider. He feels as if he is floating, and can "see" people crowding around his unconscious body. He "sees" the woman that had been behind him at the telephone booth, giving him CPR, and then suddenly he feels pain from the burns that the lightning strike had given him, and he knew he was "back in his body". After the incident, he is examined neurologically, and aside from the fact that his memory is not quite as sharp, all appears to be well with him, and he returns to work shortly thereafter. Suddenly, a few weeks later, over the course of a few days, he begins to develop an insatiable craving for piano music. He buys several recordings of piano music, and develops the desire to play them. He begins hearing music in his head, and teaches himself how to play the piano. He becomes "possessed" by his desire to play the piano, and starts waking up at 4 AM every day, and playing until he has to go to work. He continues to play all evening after coming home from work, and even begins composing his own music. The story of Cicoria is a strong opening to Musicophilia, exemplifying the powerful effect music can have on an individual.

Oliver Sacks touches upon several equally fascinating topics in Musicophilia. Musicogenic epilepsy is a condition in which seizures are induced by certain types of music, or sometimes just by a particular note. Patients who suffer from this particularly debilitating condition often live in fear of hearing music or loud noises (understandably so). The condition can be unpredictable, and something such as the blare of an ambulance driving by can trigger an epileptic seizure. Another debilitating condition that is covered in the first part of this book is the topic of musical hallucinations. Musical hallucinations are spontaneously induced within the auditory part of the brain. Often, this occurs in patients who are partially deaf, or hard of hearing. In these cases, the auditory portion of the brain becomes less active, due to under stimulation. As a result, it can begin to generate its own signals, which can take on the form of musical hallucinations. One patient, Mrs. C., matches this description. She is hard of hearing, and begins to develop musical hallucinations. She is alarmed that she is going mad. One morning, she suddenly starts to hear loud clanging, and thinks there must be a fire truck on her street. When she looks outside, she discovers that the street is empty, and cannot determine a source for this dreadful noise. The noise is replaced by music after a period of time, and she hears music from her childhood in her head all day long. Dr. Sacks explains to her that her hallucinations are not psychotic, but rather have a physiological and neurological basis. He explains to her brain imaging reveals that cases of musical hallucinations stimulate the same parts of the brain as listening to music would - the frontal and temporal lobes, the cerebellum, and the basal ganglia. In the case of Mrs. C., as well as with other patients that suffer from musical hallucinations, Sacks mentions the use of the anti-epileptic drug Gabapentin, to try and treat the hallucinations. Mrs. C. reports that Gabapentin aggravates her condition further; in the case of a different patient, it helped for a period of two months, before the hallucinations began to worsen again.

The second part of Musicophilia discusses musicality, and the diversity that exists among individuals in relation to this. Topics in this section include amusia, absolute pitch, synesthesia and music, and musical savants. It addresses how some people are more "musical" than others, whereas others suffer from amusia - a type of disorder in which the subject has difficulty processing pitch, and cannot recognize when they or someone else is singing off key. In contrast, other people have absolute pitch, and may find listening to a piece of music played in the wrong key extremely agitating. Sir Frederick Ouseley, who was a music professor at Oxford University, displayed his remarkable trait of perfect pitch from a very young age. He could make proclamations like "Papa blows his nose in G," or that the wind was whistling in D.

In the chapter about synesthesia and music, Sacks discusses how some individuals associate certain colors or tastes to different musical keys. For example, Michael associated D major with the color blue. When hearing F minor, he saw an earthy ashy color. An unnamed professional musician discussed in the chapter experiences different tastes on her tongue in response to hearing specific music intervals; major second is bitter, and fourth tastes like grass. She even makes distinctions such as minor sixth tasting like cream, and major sixth tasting like low-fat cream.

Part III of the book focuses on memory, movement, and music. This section of the book discusses the effects of music upon patients that suffer from more common ailments, such as Tourette's syndrome, Parkinson's, and amnesia. These patients employ music as a treatment to help them overcome problems that they face due to their illnesses. To them, certain types of music help treat their symptoms, and give them relief, even if only temporarily. A story that touched me personally was the case of Rosalie B., a post-encephalitic Parkinson's patient, who suffered from long periods of time during which she would remain completely paralyzed. However, playing music to her, or even upon her imagining music, would free her from the shackles of her disease, and her symptoms would completely disappear for a period of time. It is incredible to me that music can have such a therapeutic effect over a disease that has manifested itself so strongly in a person.

The final section of Musicophilia considers the role of music in emotion and identity. After suffering a brain aneurysm, Harry S. is rendered completely emotionless and unmoved by events of life. He would read in the newspaper about tragedies and remain completely indifferent. The only thing that seemed to shake Harry from his incapability of feeling was when he sang. Sacks states that while singing, Harry displays all the emotions appropriate for the music. Sacks closes the book by discussing cases of dementia, and how music therapy can capture the attention of patients in deep states of dementia, who are otherwise incapable of maintaining attention on anything. However, upon playing music in their presence, they suddenly seem to have a new sense of attention and curiosity. Patients who have trouble remembering their own names can begin to sing along to a familiar tunes, giving their families and caretakers renewed hope.

Overall, I thought Musicophilia was a fascinating book, and the style with which Oliver Sacks writes makes the book an even more captivating read - his voice and personality is not lost among the clinical nature of the subject matter, and because he has dealt with many of these patients personally, he is able to recount the patients' mental awareness, and feelings towards their ailments. Musicophilia demonstrates that each individual truly experiences music in a unique way. Sacks discusses a wide range of afflictions in this book - some of which can utilize music as treatment, and others for which music can have a debilitating effect.

I enjoy reading Oliver Sacks on any subject; his enthusiasm is inspiring. The role of music in our lives is explored here via the extraordinary reactions of some people who have neurological problems of one kind or another. The response to music in people who seem totally out of touch with any other mode of communication is a pointer that deserves a lot of further study and general interest. I am enticed enough to exlore further via some of the sources he recommends, including "Music and the Mind"

After reading this books, you feel like wanting to be a neurologist and apply to work with Sacks. He is brillant and the book is a delight to read - as are his other books. I particularly enjoyed "The Anthropologist of Mars". The main theme about the book is music, but don't be fooled, although music is what connects all stories, it is mainly a book about the brain. Even if you are not a big music fan (as I am not) but enjoy learning about the mechanisms of the brain - this is very exciting - specially because it helped me to explain why I am not into music and why different people are touched in different ways by music. I understood why I found some songs interesting and others completely boring, for example.

Oliver Sacks shows how music can affect one's brain and how the brain can affect how one hears music because of accidents, illness and even how one is born.

His books are always fascinating and this one is no expection.

Great somewhat clinical read. I purchased several books from Oliver Sacks, this was the first I read. Well written, exposing interesting cases about a variety effects of music (both good and bad) can have on the human brain. Look forward to reading more from this doctor.

I have truly enjoyed reading this book. It discusses the complexities of the human brain in an enjoyable way - not too technical for those without a medical background but not "dumbed down" either. I highly recommend this one.

Oliver Sacks is an excellent writer, and this book definitely seems to be one of his better works. I am pleased to have bought it, and am extremely excited to read it!
A good book for people who are into music, who have music as a part of their career in some way, shape, or form, and in general interested in the powers of the brain and mind.
Thanks!!

If you're educated in music and medicine this book may be interesting to you. Otherwise it's filled with anecdotal experiences of many practitioners that may or may not aid in the treatment of neurological disease.

Dr. Sacks does a great job at helping us understand how our brain reacts to music. He identifies how important music is to all of us, though each of us interprets it differently. Intelligent reading!

My sister recommended this book to me. She and I are both musicians, she as a baritone horn and piano player and I as a dance and jazz band sax/clarinet/vibes player. Dr. Sacks is a very informative and amusing writer with a wealth of exprience.

After watching the movie, Alive Inside, and spending the last year getting the Music and Memory Program up and running in my community, reading this book was a true joy. Oliver Sacks sheds light on the many effects of music on the brain and how people hear music in different ways. Sacks was wonderful in the Alive Inside movie and now I find his books even more informative.

Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks is one of the most interesting and engaging books I've read in a long time. As a musician, I am fascinated at the interaction of neurology and music. Be prepared for thinking about music in new ways, and for learning about the intricate and delicate aspects of our brains that make it possible for us to even hear music as music (rather than noise), let alone enjoy it.

This is a fascinating read from the very first page. Sacks delves into the brain's reaction to trauma and the subsequent musicality that follows. Includes amazing stories of individual lives changed forever by the music they hear in their heads.

Oliver Sacks is an accomplished psychiatrist, writer, and musician, and he's studied and thought about music and the brain for decades. I had high expectations for this book, and ultimately found it a shallow and disappointing book that was rushed through the writing, editing, and publishing process.

It's a long book (almost 400 pages), but there really isn't that much information in the book.

Here's my takeaway from this book: Music has a way of embedding itself into the very soul of a person so that much of music for us is like muscle memory -- even when our conscious executive reasoning powers fade (like in people with Alzheimers) we still maintain our ability to play music, sing songs, and enjoy music.

A lot of this is saying is that we know very little about how music works in the brain, and the writer would have done his reading public a great service by just acknowledging this fact instead of hiding behind neuroscience and musical mumbo-jumbo.