Page 54 - Mind Games The Aging Brain and How to Keep it Healthy

38 • Chapter 2

described as constantly hearing in their minds the notes and
tones of their lives. It is not an act of will but rather a way of
life, much like breathing or walking for those of us not so
blessed.
Many children generate spontaneous songs in their early
years, but by the age of six or seven, this ceases for the major-
ity. Children then seem to rely primarily on the standardized
tunes they are taught. Only a few continue to create music.
Most of the information available on music generation
comes from observing musicians who have experienced
physical trauma to the brain as a result of stroke or other brain
damage. Damage to the left hemisphere exhibits aphasia (ver-
bal-production impairment) or amusia (musical-production
impairment). Subjects could talk coherently and not be able to
function musically (amusia) or not be able to verbalize (apha-
sia) and still perform or compose. Some people documented
in literature have had strokes that affected the left side of their
brain, leaving them unable to speak a single word; yet they
could sing song after song. Sometimes they required a trigger
mechanism, depending on the damage, such as another per-
son starting the song or a record to give them a “jog.”
Although Dr. Wetzel’s grandmother was not a docu-
mented case, her experience is germane. She could not re-
spond verbally to any question but could sing her gospel
hymns for hours. However, she needed to hear a recording
to get her started. In addition, Alzheimer’s patients are often
able to sing or play an instrument long after their recogni-
tion of friends and families has passed.
Although one of the main areas that facilitates music
production also assists in verbal skills, music seems to be of
the form of a symbolic or graphic system as opposed to an
alphabetic, semantic system and thus is related closely to
mathematical skills.
PET scanning was used in a study performed on 10 right-
handed performers, each with at least 15 years of experience
and self-rated as good to excellent sight readers. The study
included two categories common to all instruments: sight
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reading and playing the instrument. For this study, the in-