Health Project - Effect of Music on the Mind

Many of us know that Michael J. Fox, the lead actor in the “Back to the Future” movies, is suf-fering from Parkinson’s disease. He has be-come the crusader in funding for research to find a cure for Parkin-son’s. With his opti-mism and the help of his foundation, Michael J. Fox has taken con-trol – at least in “attitude.” He has been able to control his body and readjust his life with the help of physician Oliver Sacks and his book, Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain.

After 17 years of medica-tion, it is still hard for him to predict when the medi-cines will act, but he is able to “walk into his Manhattan office looking like a well-preserved French exchange stu-dent.”

After he was diagnosed, he was in denial for sev-eral years. He devel-oped tricks to disguise his condi-tion. Later, he “came out” in public and

started his second job as an advocate for the awareness and curing of Parkinson’s dis-ease.

Michael J. Fox was determined to succeed back then and is de-termined to succeed now more than ever.

Michael J. Fox Says “NO” to Parkinson’s...for Good

Oliver Sacks: A Musical Physician Dr. Oliver Sacks is a prac-ticing neurologist. He has done numerous studies and research on various neurological experiences and has written several books. He started his ca-reer by working with an extraordinary group of pa-tients, many of whom had spent decades in strange mental paralyses, and

treated them with a then-experimental drug which enabled them to come back to life. Sacks is per-haps well known for his collection of case histories of patients struggling to live with conditions ranging from Tourette’s syndrome to autism, schizophrenia, Parkinson’s, and Alz-heimer’s disease. He has

investigated the world of the deaf and sign lan-guage. His most recent book is Musicophilia: Tales of Music and Brain, in which Dr. Sacks inves-tigates “the power of mu-sic to move us, to heal and to haunt us.”

Continued...

“I can’t always control my body the way I want to, and I can’t control when I feel good or when I don’t. I can control how clear my mind is. And I can control how willing I am to step up if somebody needs me.”

- Michael J. Fox

The Inside Story

Michael J Fox: Saying “NO” to Parkinson’s 1

Oliver Sacks: A Musical Physician 1-2

Parkinson’s: Losing Control 2

“Liking” Music 2

Music Mechanics 3

“Music Has Power” 3

ATTENTION: LISTEN TO SOME MUSIC 3

The Musical Mind

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Pranav Shastry

THE FINAL ISSUE

person to control his or her body. Parkinson’s disease is “chronic de-generative neurological disorder,” as stated by The Michael J. Fox Foun-dation for Parkinson’s Research, and it affects 1 in 100 people over age 60. There is no way to determine the on-set of Parkinson’s disease. The rate of misdiagnosis can be relatively high. The disease may start by age 40 for 5% to 10% of the people and people as young as 30 years of age can also be affected. It is estimated that at least a million people in the United States and 6 million worldwide

have Parkinson’s disease. “Cardinal symptoms,” or general familiar symp-toms, include “resting trem-ors” (uncontrollable movement that occurs when an “affected limb” stops or moves for duration), slow move-ment (bradkinesia), unstable posture, and stiffness. While there is still no cure, music has been used to give patients the ability to control their bod-ies to a certain extent. Music acts as a supplement of dopamine, so the pa-tient can control his or her body.

In 1817, an English doctor, James Parkinson, extensively characterized Parkinson’s disease. Today, it is known as a disorder of the central nervous system that results in the loss of cells in various parts of the brain. This includes a region called the “substantia nigra,” which pro-duces dopamine. Dopamine is a chemical messenger transmitted in the brain that allows coordination of movement. A loss of dopamine causes patients to lose control of their movement. Music has been able to control neurons to allow a

Music affects the brain in ways that are unimaginable. As stated in his book Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, physician Oliver Sacks, a man who was “struck by lightning and wanted to become a pianist at the age of 42,” uses musi-cal power to transform the minds of people whose problems range from perfection to disease and disorder. Musicophilia regales Sacks’ tales as he “explores how catchy tunes” can control the mind, can take the symp-toms of a disorder or disease and “throw it away,” and can “occupy our

brains… - humans are musical spe-cies.”

In his book, Oliver Sacks discusses how patients whose disorders involve music itself are suddenly able to lis-ten to the music they like or need, without being consumed by the symptoms of a disorder. Sacks has been helping people with music to cope with certain disorders and dis-eases. Music does go as far as to give someone the freedom from a disorder or disease, like Parkinson’s (see next subsection), Williams syn-

drome (having sensitive hearing), and Amusia (a disorder in which music is unbearable to listen to).

From his article on NPR: National Public Radio and on NPR.org, Oliver Sacks explains how music works with the brain. “There is no single musical center, but 20 to 30 networks that ana-lyze different components of music, from pitch to melody,” he said.

the song is set? This is one difficult question. The answer is actually all of them.

But the components of music are the elements that really make the brain “like” music. Pitch, rhythm, tone; all of these are things we listen for and are things the brain likes to hear…what we like to hear. With these, the mind can put pictures into our heads that make us “like” a particular song. But how we perceive music is differ-ent for every person. People will like different components of music. De-pending on the mind, there is no

The mind likes different things, no matter who the person is. But the mind becomes more defined with the person’s personality. One thing people like is…music. It is made by us with expression and emotion; music is also heard by us, with ex-pression and emotion.

One thing that has been plaguing man for centuries is what it is that makes one like what one likes in music: is it the components? Is it the artist? Is it the lyrics, the instru-ments, or the environment in which

clear way to see what makes a person “like” music. Because every one’s mind is different, each person’s music tastes will be unique, which is what makes people unique.

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Parkinson’s: Losing Control

Oliver Sacks: The Musical Physician continued...

“Liking” Music

The Musica l Mind

Pranav Shast r y

to aid in the rehabilitation process. Patients with Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders im-prove in their “gait, balance, and range of motion” through music therapy. In the institution, music is also used for patients with “Alzheimer’s disease and other de-mentias (loss of memory) which allows them to remember memo-ries; traumatic injuries, which allows the patients to have coordination with their body and mind; people

who have had strokes, to help peo-ple with the most common symp-tom, speech disorders; people with depression, which helps patients change their moods and become more open.” Music therapy is a very powerful tool to help patients with all types of disorders affecting a person physically or mentally. “Music therapy...helps restore, maintain, and improve physical, emotional, psychosocial, and neu-rologic functions.”

Scientific explorations of music and the brain have enabled many insti-tutions to establish new knowledge and develop more effective thera-pies to “awaken, stimulate, and heal through the extraordinary power of music.”

The Institute for Music and Neu-rologic Function is one such or-ganization where music therapy is used. They combine music and exercise to address difficulties and

“Yes, we do use music as a ther-apy,” says Marilyn Basham, a mu-sic specialist at the Parkinson’s In-stitute of Sunnyvale, California. She uses music in special classes for patients with Parkinson’s dis-ease. “It helps patients develop an internal rhythm while they are doing something, like dancing.” People naturally have the ability to maintain a rhythm while doing anything. However, a person with Parkinson’s loses that ability because the area of the brain called the “basal gan-glius,” which allows the person to modify times and timed movement, has been affected by the disease. The music allows them to time all of their movements. “The movement of the beat allows the patient to keep the rhythm and reestablish a ‘rhythm’ with their movement. This

practice allows them to have a con-tinuous movement later on.” The music classes use a 4/4 beat, which uses 4 beats in each measure of music, and each quarter note gets one beat.

There are also dance groups for patients with Parkinson’s, which use music to establish a rhythm to get individuals to think about their movement. This allows the creative side of their brains to work and makes the patients want to do something like this without feeling forced.

Listening to music and focusing on the rhythm allows the patients to “bypass” the “basal ganglius” so they can control their bodies when-ever they listen to music and focus on the rhythm and their movements

to that rhythm. They will actually be able to use the more complex part of the brain to control their move-ments. The music activates the motor strip, which is the complex part of the brain, so the control will be natural and not dopamine based. Dopamine is a chemical that activates neurons to “fire” when the brain tells them to in order to control movement. This is one of the amazing non-invasive ways to help a person with any disease. It is simple, and has a powerful effect.

nothing better than closing your eyes on a Friday night on your sofa with your favorite song in the back-ground. Just sit back, relax…and listen. ONE CANNOT DENY THE POWER OF MUSIC.

…Spare a few moments in your day to listen to music, any type of mu-sic, and listen to it while you con-tinue with your daily routine. You can listen to it while you work, while you drive, while you cook, or when-ever. The music is relaxing and makes you feel better. There is

Page 3

“Music Has Power”

Music Mechanics

ATTENTION: LISTEN TO SOME MUSIC…!

Pictures

1. Alex Naubaum. “Sing, Brain, Sing.” 22 September 2008. Online Image. Newsweek. 23 November 2009. <http://www.newsweek.com/id/158755>.

2. No Artist. “Hear music.” 2004-2005. Online Image. Chicago Tribune. 15 November 2009. <http://classified.tribune.com/whatsinitforyou/imgs/music.jpg>

3. No Artist. “Michael J. Fox.” No Post Date. Online Image. Mirror.co.uk Celebs. 15 November 2009. <http://images.mirror.co.uk/upl/m4/dec2008/5/4/7D71CD5F-9D22-EF35-11AB8A71D67AB2DE.jpg>.

4. No Artist. “Music.” No Post Date. Online Image. MySpace. 15 November 2009. <http://www.ttdesign.com/images/intro/music.JPG>.

5. Sara Bjork. “The Best Sounds For Getting Work Done.” 23 September 2009. Online Image. Life Hacker. 15 November 2009. <http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/lifehacker/2009/09/brain.jpg>.

Article Sources

1. APDA. No Post Date. APDA: American Parkinson Disease Association St. Louis Chapter. 15 November 2009. <http://stlapda.org/>.

2. “It’s the gift that keeps on taking.” guardian.co.uk. 11 April 2009. 22 November 2009. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/apr/11/michael-j-fox-parkinsons>.

3. “Parkinson’s 101.” The Michael J. Fox Foundation For Parkinson’s Research. 10 October 2006. 14 November 2009. <http://www.michaeljfox.org/living_aboutParkinsons_parkinsons101.cfm#q1>.

4. Music Has Power. No Post Date. Institute for Music and Neurologic Function. 23 November 2009. <http://www.bethabe.org/MUSIC_INSTITUTE55.html>.

5. “Music and the Brain.” Music Power. No Post Date. 21 November 2009. < http://www.cerebromente.org.br/n15/mente/musica.html>

6. “Music On The Mind: Oliver Sacks’ ‘Musicophilia’”. NPR: National Public Radio. 3 October 2008. 2 November 2009. <http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=95336672&m=95337047>.

7. “Oliver Sacks Observes the Mind Through Music.” NPR: National Public Radio. 13 November 2007. 15 No-vember 2009. < http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16110162>.

8. Sacks, Oliver. Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain. New York: Random House Inc, 2007.

9. OliverSacks.org. No Post Date. Oliver Sacks. 22 November 2009. <http://www.oliversacks.com/>.

10. The Parkinson’s Institute and Clinical Center. No Post Date. The Parkinson’s Institute and Clinical Center. <http://www.thepi.org/>.

11. “What is Williams syndrome.” Williams Syndrome Foundation. No Post Date. 15 November 2009. <http://www.williams-syndrome.org/forparents/whatiswilliams.html>.

Bibliography

"We have five senses in which we glory and which we recognize and cele-"We have five senses in which we glory and which we recognize and cele-"We have five senses in which we glory and which we recognize and cele-"We have five senses in which we glory and which we recognize and cele-

brate, senses that constitute the sensible world for us. But there are brate, senses that constitute the sensible world for us. But there are brate, senses that constitute the sensible world for us. But there are brate, senses that constitute the sensible world for us. But there are

other senses other senses other senses other senses ---- secret senses, sixth senses, if you will secret senses, sixth senses, if you will secret senses, sixth senses, if you will secret senses, sixth senses, if you will ---- equally vital, but equally vital, but equally vital, but equally vital, but

unrecognized, and unlauded." unrecognized, and unlauded." unrecognized, and unlauded." unrecognized, and unlauded."

---- Oliver SacksOliver SacksOliver SacksOliver Sacks

The Musical Mind