The Power of Music
Oliver Sacks, a professor at Columbia University Medical Center, studied how music can manipulate and affect people in various ways in his article The Power of Music. The outcomes of each subject were very different and diverse. Dr. Sacks investigates the power of music by having individual experiences with musicians, patients, and everyday people, and finds a reason for each reaction to why it moves the people to its heights and depths of emotion.
Sacks introduces the first issue which is Parkinsonism, a neurological syndrome characterized by tremor, hypokinesia, and rigidity. He worked with two people with this disorder, a composer and a post-encephalitic patient. He came with the conclusion that they can overcome the rigidity by being exposed to regular tempo and rhythm of music. The next issue discussed is Alzheimer’s disease. He discovered that they can regain their cognitive focus for a short amount of time when exposed to music, especially a melody that brings back memories. People with William’s syndrome have severe cognitive defects. However, they are musically gifted so they are extremely sensitive to the emotional impact of music.
At this point, Dr. Sacks notices that people react to music differently. Dr. Sacks states that he has a psychologist friend that cannot work with music in the background. This is when he starts explaining the motor and emotional effects of music and the psychology behind it. He mentioned that everyone has undergone the involuntary helpless mental replaying of songs in our minds. This is because of the cortical and subcortical parts of our brain are caught in a circuit of mutual excitation. This then leads to musical hallucinations. Musical hallucinations are when several voices or instruments are heard simultaneously. Dr. Sacks claims that numerous of people acquire nonstop musical hallucinations that attack them day and night. Sometimes, they emerge treacherously without an obvious cause.
Music is haunting,
Sacks introduces the first issue which is Parkinsonism, a neurological syndrome characterized by tremor, hypokinesia, and rigidity. He worked with two people with this disorder, a composer and a post-encephalitic patient. He came with the conclusion that they can overcome the rigidity by being exposed to regular tempo and rhythm of music. The next issue discussed is Alzheimer’s disease. He discovered that they can regain their cognitive focus for a short amount of time when exposed to music, especially a melody that brings back memories. People with William’s syndrome have severe cognitive defects. However, they are musically gifted so they are extremely sensitive to the emotional impact of music.
At this point, Dr. Sacks notices that people react to music differently. Dr. Sacks states that he has a psychologist friend that cannot work with music in the background. This is when he starts explaining the motor and emotional effects of music and the psychology behind it. He mentioned that everyone has undergone the involuntary helpless mental replaying of songs in our minds. This is because of the cortical and subcortical parts of our brain are caught in a circuit of mutual excitation. This then leads to musical hallucinations. Musical hallucinations are when several voices or instruments are heard simultaneously. Dr. Sacks claims that numerous of people acquire nonstop musical hallucinations that attack them day and night. Sometimes, they emerge treacherously without an obvious cause.
Music is haunting,
Cited: Sacks, Oliver . "The Power of Music ." Oxford University Press . 129.10 (2006): 2528-2532. Web. 11 Sep. 2013.