What if Michelangelo Listened to Lady Gaga: SculptingYour Brain with Music

Did music influence Michelangelo? If so, was it the sounding of a harmonic chord, the new musical aesthetic for the period? Did it contribute to the transformation of a block of Carrara marble into David, the masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture? What form would David have taken if sculpted in the 21st century, with such a broad range of music genres and styles?  Lady Gaga anyone… These are the kinds of questions I cogitate in moments of quiet. Continue…

New blog post at Cognitive Connections. Thanks for the invitation to contribute as a guest blogger Dr. Lise Delong!

Use it or lose it, we are all familiar with this adage. It is true for the body and true for the brain.

Without sufficient sensory stimulation a child’s brain does not develop as it should. Nor does an adult brain maintain full  functionality as a  result of negative plasticity. The auditory system thrives with the right input and suffers if deprived of sound or overstimulated by noise.

A new study by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania shows that declines in hearing ability may accelerate gray mater atrophy in auditory areas of the brain and increase the listening effort necessary for older adults to successfully comprehend speech.

Hearing aids can be an effective intervention. Another approach to  consider is music listening therapy. This is  neuroauditory training to improve sound brain fitness in part by stimulating the frequency bands where the deficits exist with specially modified music.  There has been good success helping people with mild hearing loss through the use of The Listening Program®. In many cases listeners no longer require hearing aids, because they trained their brain to better understand what it hears (auditory processing).

Many audiologists will share that when patients with mild hearing loss wear hearing aids for a period of time that their auditory discrimination improves on tests without the hearing aids. This is due to the brain now being able to perceive the auditory signal through sound amplification. The increased signal is enough to improve brain processing. In my opinion, a course of The Listening Program should be considered prior to using hearing aids in cases of mild hearing loss, and definitely needs to be used along with hearing aids. This is something proactive that can be done to stimulate the brain so people can continue to enjoy the richness that exists within the sounds of our loved ones voices, music, and nature.

Read more about this study published in the Journal of Neuroscience here.

Ever annoyed by sounds?

Each of us have sounds we like or dislike, just as we prefer certain foods over others. But some people experience pain with certain sounds, something called hyperacusis. Others dislike some sounds, a condition called misophonia, while others experience phonophobia, a fear of sounds.

These conditions can be difficult to diagnose and hard to treat, although some have found relief with The Listening Program. Interestingly each of these auditory perceptual issues can trigger the body’s physiological response to stress, “fight/flight”.  For years I suffered from hyperacusis (fortunately no longer) and can tell you it can be unbearable at times. These issues can be so debilitating, people who suffer from them may not leave their home in order to avoid the triggers.

Yesterday The New York Times published an interesting article “When a Chomp or a Slurp Is a Trigger for Outrage“. It delves into misophonia, and sheds some light on why sounds can trigger rage. If you read it please comment here. I am very interested in your reaction to this information.

Eight weeks from now will mark the release of my first book Healing at The Speed of Sound  from Penguin Group USA/Hudson Street Press. This is the primary reason for my alarmingly infrequent posts. What posts I have shared are well… about the book…

Many exciting things to share as we countdown to release day on September 29th! Stay tuned here or register for email updates and special offers at the official book website. Be sure to checkout the events page to see what’s happening in your area!

If you haven’t had a chance to read the introduction take a few minutes and check it out. Your questions are welcome!

The brain is a vast frontier, with neurology students as our future pioneers on the front lines helping those with nervous system disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, and brain injuries following 12 years of concentrated studies, internships and residency.

To help these dedicated students in their exploration the 50 Best Blogs for Neurology Students has been complied. This is a must read for anyone with even a passing interest in the wondrous brain! Some of my personal favorites are included, such as Renegade Neurologist, the blog of David Perlmutter, MD, a pioneer himself in the prevention and treatment of neurodegenerative disease.  Did I mention The Brain Understanding Itself made the list?  A nod to Suzane Smith for letting me know.

The Listening Program® (TLP) is a music listening therapy that provides engaging brain stimulation to improve performance in school, work and life. This introductory webinar is free and will provide an overview of  the auditory system, auditory processing, and how music listening therapy can help improve the life of a child on the autism spectrum.

Date: Sunday, Dec. 20, 2009
Times: USA  11:00 AM – 12:00 PM EST (Eastern Standard Time)
9:00 AM – 10:00 AM MST (Mountain Standard Time)
India    9:30 PM – 10:30 PM IST (Indian Standard Time)

TO REGISTER: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/790568674

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about the Webinar.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
PC
Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista

Mac
Required: Mac OS® X 10.4 (Tiger®) or newer

Music works, music heals; it unlocks our emotions, creativity, spirituality, and the infinite potential of the brain.  It is also a way to tap into the memories of someone suffering with Alzheimer’s Disease according to Dr. Concetta Tomaino, who has studied the therapeutic effects of music for more than 30 years.

Caregivers have observed for decades that Alzheimer’s patients can still remember and sing songs long after they’ve stopped recognizing names and faces. Many hospitals and nursing homes use music as recreation, since it brings patients pleasure. But beyond the entertainment value, there’s growing evidence that listening to music can also help stimulate seemingly lost memories and even help restore some cognitive function.

“What I believe is happening is that by engaging very basic mechanisms of emotions and listening, music is stimulating dormant areas of the brain that haven’t been accessible due to degenerative disease,” says Concetta Tomaino, executive director of the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function, a nonprofit organization founded at Beth Abraham in 1995. 1

Read the complete article by Melinda Beck in The Wall Street Journal.

1Retrieved November, 26, 2009 The Wall Street Journal “A Key for Unlocking Memories” http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704538404574540163096944766.html

10 Best Brain Blogs includes my favorites from some of the leading minds in neuroscience, neurotechnology, and brain fitness. These blogs cover topics ranging from neuroplasticity, anthropology, and neurobiology to brain training programs and so much more. The list offers a little something to engage anybody’s prefrontal cortex!  I hope you like it.  

To read 10 Best Brain Blogs visit  http://bit.ly/LGaPi.

Although I have not yet seen the program I know it will be outstanding. Why? In part because my friend Don Campbell, author of  The Mozart Effect and nearly two dozen other books on the power of music was one of the first co-producers for two years. A decade in the making, The Music Instinct should prove to be a key resource for anyone interested in music and the brain.        

Yo Yo Ma plays Bach, Bobby McFerrin creates an improvised melody with his son Tyler, and the acclaimed percussionist Evelyn Glennie, who happens to be deaf, shares how she hears music through the vibrations in her body (bone conduction). There is so much more;  music and evolution, medicine, the brain, the physics of sounds, and interviews, need I say more?

I’ll be joining the conversation on Twitter @alexdoman. Hope to see you there!  Please share your thoughts here after you watch.

The findings, published in the May 5 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience, show for the first time that a sex hormone can directly affect auditory function, and point toward the possibility that estrogen controls other types of sensory processing as well. Understanding how estrogen changes the brain’s response to sound, say the authors, might open the door to new ways of treating hearing deficiencies.

Of particular interest is that estrogen modulates the gain of auditory neurons. This finding could be a critical to the successful treatment of  sound discrimination problems and hypersensitivity to sounds in the future.