Members rhythminmind Posted November 23, 2005 Members Share Posted November 23, 2005 http://news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=1659122005 Constant barrage of music may leave us hearing thingsEBEN HARRELL EXPOSURE to music in everyday life is leading to an increase in the incidence of a medical condition in which a song or piece of music plays continuously in a person's head, scientists claimed yesterday. Musical hallucination is a condition in which the brain hears phantom music. It is different than the common occurrence of "having a song stuck in your head" because the music is continuous and perceived to be real and external. "Having a song in your head is quite normal every now and then. But musical hallucinations can be quite distressing," Dr Victor Aziz, a psychiatrist at Whitchurch Hospital in Cardiff, said. "People find they can't sleep, can't think properly. It may interrupt them from doing something. It is serious." Dr Aziz and a co-researcher, Dr Nick Warner, have published an analysis of 30 cases of the disorder in Psychopathology Journal. Based on their findings, Dr Aziz predicts musical hallucinations will become more common as people continue to be inundated by music from radios and televisions, and in lifts, gyms and shopping centres. "People who are bombarded by music tend to hear music," he said. "I suspect the rates of hallucinations in orchestral players will be higher than normal. So, as we hear more music every day, cases will probably go up." Officially, one in 10,000 people over the age of 65 suffers from the condition, but Dr Aziz believes the true number to be higher because of poor diagnosis and because many younger people have it as well. Some patients say they learn to live with hallucinations, even finding them a source of comfort. One 28-year-old American said the music in his head reflected his emotional state. "It just plays in the background like the soundtrack playing in the background of a movie. Sometimes the music stops and it makes me feel out of place and time, like something's wrong." In two-thirds of cases, patients reported hearing religious music; six heard Abide With Me. "We speculate that people will hallucinate both pop and classical music in the future, because it is now more commonplace in our everyday lives," Dr Aziz said. Research by neuroscientists has shown that the human brain uses special networks of neurons to perceive music. Brain scans of patients with musical hallucinations has shown these networks working almost identically during hallucination and during actual hearing: to the patients, the music is perceived to be real. Dr Aziz said a third of the people in his study were deaf or hard of hearing. A vast majority of the others lived in isolation. These results suggest musical hallucinations occur when people move from a stimulus-rich environment to one with few auditory stimuli. With no sound coming via the ears, the brain generates random impulses it interprets to be sound. The brain then matches these impulses to memories of music, and a song in the head begins. That may explain how Beethoven was able to compose music even after losing his hearing. This article: http://news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=1659122005 Last updated: 21-Jul-05 00:53 GMT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Spencer Crewe Posted November 23, 2005 Members Share Posted November 23, 2005 So, is there a cure?! I've had Green Day's "When September Ends" stuck in my head since the commute to the office this morning... Cheers! Spencer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Base Posted November 23, 2005 Members Share Posted November 23, 2005 Oops, I knew the ol' 'glue on the headphones' gag would get out of hand!!!! BTW, thanks for that Spence, it's stuck in my head now!! Lucky I quite like the song...! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hanshananigan Posted November 23, 2005 Members Share Posted November 23, 2005 Interesting...I have this experience periodically when I'm tired, up late, and working on reports and such and occasionally when I'm just tired and otherwise I'm not receiving lots of sensory stimuli. Ambient noise in the house/apt apparently triggers the sounds which take the form of jarbled horn section fanfare or heavy-metal-sounding guitar solos. It doesn't last long and usually goes away if I start humming or turn on the TV or strum a geetar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phaeton Posted November 23, 2005 Members Share Posted November 23, 2005 Hanshanananagan- Thanks! I was worried about that. Actually though, when I'm really tired and worn out sounds like distant toilets flushing or cars thundering through the potholes can almost sound like muffled, semi-garbled voices. That usually sends me to bed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members boosh Posted November 23, 2005 Members Share Posted November 23, 2005 I have that...... Not a song I'm reminded off and gets stuck,...Nope it's really music I've never heard before. And when I listen to music I see colors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Soundman Posted November 24, 2005 Members Share Posted November 24, 2005 Originally posted by Spencer Crewe So, is there a cure?! I've had Green Day's "When September Ends" stuck in my head since the commute to the office this morning... Cheers! Spencer I had "Wake Me Up When September Ends" playing in my head too. Oddly enough, it stopped the morning of October 1... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Raymar Posted November 24, 2005 Members Share Posted November 24, 2005 I was watching a PBS thing on Danny Elfman this evening and it went into his history with The Mystic Nights of the Oingo Boingo, then the rock Oingo Boingo(they left out his brief foray into Boingo) and his film composing history at a glance. There were a few shots of him playing "Dead Man's Party" live. After it was over I had to toss some clothes into the dryer and a riff from "Dead Man's Party" - da da da da da da da - do do da da was playing in my head and it started sounding alot like a section from Dave Brubeck's "Take Five". Anybody ever notice that? I know they both borrow from dead classical composers, Brubeck for instance in his "Rondo". Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted November 24, 2005 Members Share Posted November 24, 2005 The chorus for "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow" (just typing that makes me shudder) was stuck in my head for months in the early 80s because it seemed to play every day on the radio at the breakfast joint I hate at. Sometimes twice. I was terrified when Clinton used it in one of the campaigns, but for some reason it had lost its ability to worm its way into my head. I suspect it was my experience working in studios... you have to have a way to deal with hearing the same song or jingle over and over and ... you know, though I made some headway, I never really conquered that. That's why I went back to the day job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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