Category Archives: neurology

Musical Neurological Mysteries

I have been listening a lot to Beethoven recently. My passion for different composers goes through phases. I have had a Bach phase, a Gershwin phase, a Prokofiev phase. I love their distinct styles and utter genius and originality. Each one was a profoundly transformative composer who also created incredibly poignant and beautiful music. Because I have synesthesia, I hear and see my music. To be honest, some music is visually beautiful and some is harsh and hideous to me. Beethoven has music that is like a visual poem. His melodies are like flowing waves of lights when they come together perfectly.

Neurologists might want to ponder the mystery of Beethoven a bit. For a huge portion of his composing career he was either losing his hearing or was totally deaf. How did his brain do the things it did missing a sense- the essential sense it required? I have been learning a bit about art history recently too. Can you imagine a genius like Van Gogh painting blind, remembering how to paint somehow? My mind cannot comprehend how Beethoven wrote his music, orchestrated it, created mood, emotion and phrasing- and all without hearing it. Even an experienced chef likes to taste their food.

The human brain is a mystery. Beethoven wrote some of the most sublime music ever written and he did it as a non-hearing person. Generally that would end a musical career, but he had inner music. He remembered sounds from when he heard. Did he hear them in his head the way we do? Who knows? But we do know he was able to tap into this ability somehow.

I tend to turn subjects back to autism. We don’t understand the brain well. By any logic, a deaf man should not be considered one of the world’s greatest composers. But he is. So once again I caution experts to have a little humility and not presume to think they have a clue about how a nonspeaking autistic person perceives and understands. The brain has so many unknowns, and people who by logic shouldn’t have an ability may have it, and sometimes at a profound level. I shouldn’t be processing human speech, according to some. I shouldn’t be writing my thoughts. I shouldn’t even have thoughts. Well, I say, go listen to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and imagine writing it deaf and try to be a little humble about the brain’s unknown capacities.

The Brain that Changes Itself

I watched an intriguing documentary available on Amazon Prime called The Brain that Changes Itself. It is a film based on a book by the same name written by Norman Doidge. I recommend both. They address the developing area of study in neurology of neuroplasticity. This is an important development because for too long scientists have assumed that the brain was fixed in its wiring and that certain conditions were permanent. The film shows how some innovative neuro-scientists have discovered that this is not the case. They show how, with the proper training, some people with severe challenges have literally rewired their neural pathways  and overcome incredible things. They call this neuroplasticity because the person’s brain developed new neural pathways when those pathways biologically intended for a particular function were damaged beyond use. This alternate neural highway gained in competence and ultimately adapted to function normally. One scientist compared it to being stuck in traffic on the main highway, not moving, or taking an alternate side route that, slow at first,ultimately developed over time into a new super highway.

One scientist described his belief that autism is caused by an excess of neuroplasticity. He works at trying to reduce the overload of information that enters the brain of people with autism and creates in them behavioral loops. I found the film fascinating and hopeful because it emphasizes that the brain remains plastic throughout adulthood. I encourage you to watch it. I’m interested in your impressions.