Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain

While music is a powerful therapeutic tool, it can also have harmful effects ranging from the annoying (a catchy but tiresome tune that gets stuck in your head) to the disruptive and even dangerous (musical hallucinations, musical seizures). Discuss two or three examples of the darker side of musical neurology. What do these instances show about the relationship between music and the human brain?

Musical perception is deeply subjective, and Oliver Sacks emphasizes that no two people perceive the same piece of music in the same way. Discuss the paradox of music as both a near-universal aspect of human experience and something unique to each person. For Sacks, what does this paradox reveal about the human condition more broadly?

How does music serve a therapeutic function for people like Clive Wearing, who suffered a brain infection, and those with Alzheimer’s or dementia? What makes music uniquely suited to help these individuals?