Musical Minds with Dr. Oliver Sacks

Directed by Louise Lockwood, this PBS-aired NOVA episode introduces three men with extraordinary musical talent and a woman with amusia—a condition described as “the musical equivalent of color blindness.” Musical Minds features commentary by neurologist and author Oliver Sacks, whose 2007 book Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain describes the cases of people who can at least temporarily overcome debilitating medical conditions through the therapeutic effects of music. Derek Paravicini, blind and autistic, has trouble counting beyond 10 and doesn't know his phone number or address, but he began playing the piano at age two and can now play anything after hearing it once. Matt Giordano's severe case of Tourette syndrome manifests as a nearly constant series of uncontrollable tics—except when he's playing the drums or just drumming on anything at all. Tony Cicoria, an orthopedic surgeon, discovered within two weeks after being struck by lightning in 1994 that he had a talent for playing and composing classical works; he now performs before sellout crowds. But for Anne Barker in England, “music just sounds like an angry noise,” even though she comes from a musical family (her parents own a shop specializing in traditional Irish instruments). The basic idea behind music therapy, Sacks says, is that music can actually help people restore some damaged brain functions. Sacks even subjects himself to an MRI scan to see how music affects his own brain—Bach lights it up, but Beethoven triggers only a faint glow. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (F. Zoretich)