[Info] Interesting podcast; seizures/music

[Pinkhorse]

One of my favorite podcasts is called 20 thousand hertz - about sound. It's a great show. Today I listened to one called Seizure Sonification. It's fascinating about taking the EEG waves of someone's seizure activity and making music with it. This is a man who has been having seizures since childhood that always involve music. I guess because of that, people who make music from different waveforms. Interesting. One of the things that was on the show was an brief moment with the man's neurologist. The surprise for me is that she said it's very very rare for people to have musical experiences with seizures. I had no idea. My experience is waking up hearing symphonies in my head on occasion for most of my adult life. Who knew that this may have been seizure activity?? As well as, more recently (several years) other kinds of songs. My partials always start with a very musical voice - a woman speakingPortuguese, which (at least in the part of the country I went to the first time I was there and learned to speak there) is a very sing-songy phrase that I always tried to remember but couldn't.
Anyway, check out the podcast episode and the podcast in general. Fascinating stuff....

 

[Nakamova]

I wonder if seizures that feature auditory or musical aspects are more likely to start in a particular side or area of the brain?

There's a study that suggests that a particular Mozart piece has a corrective effect on the brains of people with epilepsy and that they are less likely to seize when they are listening to it. I've also read that certain kinds of noise (such as a babbling brook) are also helpful -- a soundtrack that is not erratic and stressful, but has enough variation so that the brain doesn't start to "daydream" (which can be a precursor to seizing).

You night be interested in this forum:
http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/forums/f30/