MUSICOPHILIA contains 29 chapters. Each chapter is independent. Each chapter describes a series of people with a brain dysfunction that manifests itself in a change in musical ability (ies) or musical appreciation. Some of these patients were professional musicians who suffered a stroke, or an accident; He has collected data on patients in similar situations from a number of other Dr.s, and has researched medical literature back to the late 19th century. In most cases, the particular dysfunction may be traceable to a specified area in the brain, and he tries to trace it. His fascinating chapter on Absolute Pitch even notes that “Absolute Pitch can shift with age” and that this can be a problem for older musicians. My sister & I both experienced such a shift sometime in our fifties!
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Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by Oliver Sacks
John Zimmerman, February 8, 2009
MUSICOPHILIA contains 29 chapters. Each chapter is independent. Each chapter describes a series of people with a brain dysfunction that manifests itself in a change in musical ability (ies) or musical appreciation. Some of these patients were professional musicians who suffered a stroke, or an accident; He has collected data on patients in similar situations from a number of other Dr.s, and has researched medical literature back to the late 19th century. In most cases, the particular dysfunction may be traceable to a specified area in the brain, and he tries to trace it. His fascinating chapter on Absolute Pitch even notes that “Absolute Pitch can shift with age” and that this can be a problem for older musicians. My sister & I both experienced such a shift sometime in our fifties!(6 of 9 readers found this comment helpful)