Book: Musicophilia

Music can move us to the heights or depths of emotion. It can persuade us to buy something, or remind us of our first date. It can lift us out of depression when nothing else can. It can get us dancing to its beat. But the power of music goes much, much further. Indeed, music occupies more areas of our brain than language does--humans are a musical species.

Oliver Sacks's compassionate, compelling tales of people struggling to adapt to different neurological conditions have fundamentally changed the way we think of our own brains, and of the human experience. In Musicophilia, he examines the powers of music through the individual experiences of patients, musicians, and everyday people--from a man who is struck by lightning and suddenly inspired to become a pianist at the age of forty-two, to an entire group of children with Williams syndrome who are hypermusical from birth; from people with "amusia," to whom a symphony sounds like the clattering of pots and pans, to a man whose memory spans only seven seconds--for everything but music.

Our exquisite sensitivity to music can sometimes go wrong: Sacks explores how catchy tunes can subject us to hours of mental replay, and how a surprising number of people acquire nonstop musical hallucinations that assault them night and day. Yet far more frequently, music goes right: Sacks describes how music can animate people with Parkinson's disease who cannot otherwise move, give words to stroke patients who cannot otherwise speak, and calm and organize people whose memories are ravaged by Alzheimer's or amnesia.

Music is irresistible, haunting, and unforgettable, and in Musicophilia, Oliver Sacks tells us why.

source -
http://musicophilia.com/

New York Marathon turns blind eye to music

Headphones and portable audio players were banned this year by USA Track & Field, the national governing body for running, from all official races. However, it was decided not to police the runners on the 26.2-mile New York course -- which is set to be run Sunday -- because organizers have no surefire way to enforce the rule, The New York Times reported Thursday.

The decision follows threats from organizers of the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington last week to disqualify runners who violated the headphones ban. The organizers didn't follow through on the threat and no one was disqualified.

"To ban them outright is just stupid and if they want to disqualify me, they can," Jennifer Lamkins, a Long Beach, Calif., teacher, before running the Marine Corps Marathon, told the Times. "If they are banning them because we can't hear directions, does that mean they should ban deaf people, too?"

Some runners said the rule is pointless, as music players are available in tiny sizes that are easy to conceal.

"They can ban iPods all they want but how do you think they are going to enforce that when those things have gotten so small?" said Richie Sais, a participant in the Marine Corps race.

"I dare them to find the iPod on me," he said.


source - http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Quirks/2007/11/01/new_york_marathon_turns_blind_eye_to_music/7180/