When I was an intern, I treated a patient in the emergency department who'd had a stroke and was unable to speak. The patient's family had shared with us his love of baseball, so one of my colleagues, also a fan, started singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” to him. My patient joined right in and sang every word with so much gusto that I remember the incident to this day.
Such quirks of the brain have inspired many neurologists. Best-selling author and neurologist Oliver Sacks, who wrote Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain in 2007, described the phenomenon in an interview for this publication the following year: “With music, there's something very special because of its intense coherence. Every bar of a piece naturally follows a previous bar and leads to the next, and the music is held together by a sense of expectancy. So even if one doesn't know a piece, one feels where it is going.
“I like to imagine a sort of storage box, a treasure house deep in the brain,” Sacks told us, “in the basal ganglia, the cerebellum—parts of the brain which are not usually affected by stroke or brain damage.”
Music can reengage people with a variety of brain disorders, including dementia, as depicted in this issue's cover story about Tony Bennett, the legendary singer whose career has spanned more than 70 years. As you will read, the performer transforms onstage; he understands what he is singing and totally connects with his audience. Bennett demonstrates that music is therapeutic and can be used strategically, according to our experts, who describe how music affects memory and how to take advantage of its power to calm and soothe.
Like many people dealing with neurologic conditions, the Bennett family initially kept Tony's diagnosis private, deciding to share it publicly later to show people that Alzheimer's disease does not mean life is over. We discuss issues involved in disclosing an illness to family, friends, and others in our Take Charge column.
The first time Jamal Hill, a swimmer with Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease, told anyone outside his family about his disease, it was his coach, who helped him train differently; Hill eventually become a Paralympian. You can find Hill's remarkable story in our Pictures of You column.
Genetic testing can detect the most common genetic defects known to cause CMT. It also can identify many mutations associated with other neurologic disorders, as we explain in "Genetic Testing May Influence Treatment of Neurologic Disorders." The story describes the different types of testing, how to decide whether to test or not, and how a genetic counselor can assist with this decision and other questions.
Our feature “New Myasthenia Gravis Drugs Offer More Options to Patients” provides an update on another neuromuscular disease that can cause weakness: myasthenia gravis. Advances in research and new drugs have ensured that myasthenia gravis can be managed far better than before.
I hope you will read our story on air pollution and its effects on neurologic disease. Scientists and physicians are now concerned that the air we breathe may be increasing our chances of stroke, cognitive decline, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease, among other brain ailments. Learn what you can do to avoid polluted air and help reduce your carbon footprint.
Finally, if you play video games or have family members who do, you will be interested in what neurologists have to say about their benefits and mitigating their risks. Our Wellness story, “Smart Ways to Make Playing Video Games Healthier,” is certain to spark discussion in many homes.
March 1 marks World Music Therapy Day. Celebrate a favorite piece of music with someone in your family. I hope it brings everyone much joy, just as it did with my patient years ago and as it does with Tony Bennett today.
Orly Avitzur, MD, MBA, FAAN, Editor-in-Chief
