TV Program Description
Original PBS Broadcast Date: June 23, 2009
Can the power of music make the brain come alive? Throughout
his career Dr. Oliver Sacks, neurologist and acclaimed author,
whose book Awakenings was made into a Oscar-nominated
feature film starring Robin Williams and Robert De Niro, has
encountered myriad patients who are struggling to cope with
debilitating medical conditions. While their ailments vary,
many have one thing in common: an appreciation for the
therapeutic effects of music. NOVA follows four
individuals—two of whom are Sacks's case
studies—and even peers into Sacks's own brain, to
investigate music's strange, surprising, and still unexplained
power over the human mind. (Have a question for Dr. Sacks?
Ask away.)
According to Sacks's latest book,
Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, anatomists
cannot identify the brain of a visual artist, writer, or
mathematician—but they can recognize the brain of a
professional musician. Music affects more parts of our brains
than language does—clearly humans are musical animals.
What can music tell us about our minds? And what can our minds
tell us about music? Finally, can music aid people battling
severe neurological disorders? To find out, NOVA follows the
BBC's Alan Yentob on an intercontinental quest—from New
York to England and Ireland—to meet individuals like
those chronicled in Musicophilia, bringing Sacks's
latest work to life through their intimate and phenomenal
stories.
Three of the four case studies cope with neurological
disorders: Tourette's syndrome, autism, and amusia, the
musical equivalent of color-blindness, which results in
deafness to certain elements of music. The last subject is a
surgeon and rock 'n' roll lover who, after being struck by
lightning, became obsessed with playing classical piano. Three
of the four—all but the patient with amusia—have
somehow, almost magically, unlocked a part of their minds to
develop musical talents that were otherwise unimaginable.
The four individuals are:
Matt Giordano, United States
Since his childhood, Matt has suffered from severe Tourette's
syndrome, which, coupled with his other neurological
disorders, resulted in violent outbursts as a child. Even
today his days are rife with pronounced involuntary tics, or
movements he cannot control, but Matt has discovered the
elixir for his outbursts: playing the drums. He currently
leads drumming workshops to help others with Tourette's combat
its symptoms, and his passionate drumming skills have made a
positive difference in these patients' lives.
Derek Paravicini, England
Derek is blind, autistic, and completely reliant on others. He
is also a musical savant whose talents on the piano are beyond
belief. After years of practice, he has developed the uncanny
ability to hear a piece of music only once and then play it
back, no matter how complex it is. Derek continues to
demonstrate his unparalleled musical skill to amazed audiences
worldwide.
Anne Barker, Ireland
Anne grew up in a musical family—her parents own a
village shop specializing in traditional Irish
instruments—but throughout her life she never enjoyed
music. Recently she has been diagnosed with amusia, the
brain's inability to hear certain elements of music. Deaf to
rhythm and beat, pitch and melody, Anne hears only noise when
music comes on the radio and used to feel humiliated when she
attended a dance. Today, she is taking part in a worldwide
study to identify the potential causes of her condition.
Tony Cicoria, United States
In 1994, orthopedic surgeon Tony Cicoria was struck by
lightning and quickly developed an obsession to play the
piano. Before the accident he wasn't musically inclined, but
ever since his urge to play has been insatiable. Today, he
plays in front of sold-out audiences and NOVA's cameras are
there for the premiere of his Lightning Sonata, a
composition inspired by his extraordinary experience.
While these extraordinary stories offer examples of music's
unquestionable power over the mind, scientists have yet to
fully understand what happens in the brain as we experience
music.
In an effort to unravel the mystery, NOVA puts Sacks himself
into a functional MRI (fMRI) machine for two experiments. In
the first, cutting-edge visualization shows that when Sacks
imagines a piece of music, his brain reacts differently than
when he actually hears the song. The second test shows Sacks's
overwhelming neurological response when he listens to one of
his favorite pieces, a Bach Mass in B Minor; but, when
compared to a similar piece from Beethoven, Sacks's brain is
almost unresponsive, revealing his clear distaste for the
latter composer. (See a
video extra
of Oliver Sacks.)
For the first time on television, NOVA provides a rare glimpse
into the mind of the world's most famous neurologist. And,
with Sacks's help, "Musical Minds" highlights the unusual
disorders these subjects face even as it underscores how these
people manage, survive, and transcend, often triumphantly. As
Sacks says, it seems that music can bring back the feeling of
life when nothing else can.
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