Thursday, June 3, 2010

Nova Musical Minds on PBS

If you have any interest in music or the human mind you HAVE to see this episode of Nova.  Nova is an amazing science show on PBS, and I hope you already know about it.

This episode deals with how music effects the brain.  Some of the stories featured include an autistic man who can play back any piece of music he's heard only once, how drumming helps give one man relief from the tics of his Tourette's syndrome temporarily, and how one man developed the urge to take up classical piano after being struck by lightning.

There is also a segment devoted to the Beth Abraham hospital's musical treatments.  Music sessions have shown that some people in a catatonic state can dance and play musical instruments even though they can't walk or talk.  Moby is now directly involved in their therapy program.

Also in the program, fMRI images of people listening to music compared to images of them imagining the music.   The host also climbs into the maching to listen to two pieces of music including Bach (that he loves) and Beethoven (that he does not care for) to let the doctors see how his brain reacts. 



Anyway, here's the link to the show.  Musical Minds.

Musical Minds homepage.

Make sure you check out the books he's authored.

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