Reddit Reddit reviews Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, Revised and Expanded Edition

We found 33 Reddit comments about Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, Revised and Expanded Edition. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

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33 Reddit comments about Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, Revised and Expanded Edition:

u/NextChamp · 21 pointsr/television

I urge anyone to read [Oliver Sacks' "Musicophilia"] (https://www.amazon.com/Musicophilia-Tales-Music-Revised-Expanded/dp/1400033535) which goes into this topic of people visualizing music.

Heck, read ANY book by the late Dr. Sacks. Dude did a wonderful job exploring the mysteries of the mind and writing down all the weird shit that can come from it.

u/admorobo · 13 pointsr/suggestmeabook

I recommend Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by Dr. Oliver Sacks. Sacks is a neurologist and his book "explores the place music occupies in the brain and how it affects the human condition". A very interesting and at times bizarre read.

u/jim_diesel6 · 10 pointsr/explainlikeimfive

There is a ton of very cool practical and anecdotal information on this in this book: [Musicophilia] (https://www.amazon.com/Musicophilia-Tales-Music-Revised-Expanded/dp/1400033535). This was the text we used in one of my graduate classes "music and the brain," it's a very complex and not fully understood area. Almost miraculous in some instances. I highly recommend giving a look if the subject interests you.

u/OvidNaso · 7 pointsr/AskReddit

Oliver Sacks wrote one as well. I haven't read it yet, but Sacks is always solid.

u/icantfindadangsn · 7 pointsr/AskScienceDiscussion

I like this question.

Beginner:

u/GreekFlamingos · 7 pointsr/Schizoid

Yeah actually, most of the dancing I've done has been at weddings. It's a lot easier to just "let go" when you're half drunk on red plus it's easier when you know the songs already and the rhythm and can anticipate the vocals and musical shifts, etc. Although besides that and dancing alone in my living room sometimes I don't really seek it as recreational activity.

ETA: If anyone gets the chance I would recommend Oliver Sacks' book Musicophilia where he discusses the neurology of music as well as disorders of the brain and how they affect musicality; mainly it's a collection of case studies with some being quite profound and rather odd. He also discusses how music is something of a neurologically unique phenomenon in how many of the different parts of the brain are recruited to process and enjoy it - including the motor cortex. There is an aspect of musicality that is culturally transcendent, that it moves, animates, transports, even if only minimally physically. Good book, Sacks was a good guy.

u/drgrlfrnd · 6 pointsr/running

Earworms are so frustrating! There isn't a lot of research on what causes them or how to get rid of them because it is such an individual experience. One study I read suggested that some participants were able to stop earworms by chewing (food, gum). Oliver Sacks has an interesting chapter on earworms in his book Musicophilia.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1400033535/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_ioTNzb0FDWJP3

u/VentralTegmentalArea · 3 pointsr/musictheory

People who have perfect pitch report that pitches are perceived similar to how colors are perceived. They just know it instantly. If you play a note, they know what note it is (although if they don't have any musical education then they wouldn't know it's named an F# or whatever). It's like if I showed you a piece of paper that was red. You would just know it was red, instantly. Even if you didn't know the color was named 'red', it would still look red to you. If I showed you a yellow piece of paper you would then know that that was a yellow paper, and that it is distinctly different from the red paper. People with perfect pitch see people struggling to name or guess what a note is the same as you or I would see someone who, when showed a red paper, couldn't guess that it was red, or tell that it is different than a yellow paper. It seems completely natural for us to just instantly perceive colors, and we could scarcely imagine a world where we couldn't tell them apart. That's how natural perfect pitch is for those who have it.

Oliver Sacks, neurologist and author, discusses in length this subject in his book Musicophilia. Another term for what people call "perfect pitch" is also known as "absolute pitch". People with absolute pitch seem to have connections in their brain that normal folks don't have. It could be that their there is genetic predisposition to developing absolute pitch. But if you think of what actually happens in the early years of human brain development there's another theory that makes more sense. When we are born, each of us has far more brain connections than we need. Part of development is a serious pruning of these connections. In fact, it's necessary for our survival to obtain a working useable brain. The method of early neuronal pruning seems to be a 'use it or lose it' sort of phenomenon. Where, as babies react to their environment and learn, they're brain figures out how to best adapt it's resources to getting what it wants. So in this sense, most or even all humans are born with the capacity for absolute pitch. The reason we don't all possess absolute pitch is because our brains decide we don't need the neuronal connections vital to the skill. It seems this lost connection is part of that pruning effect that is basically irreversible. One piece of compelling evidence for this is in the rates of absolute pitch in those who are raised learning a tonal language, such as Chinese. Starting music education at a very young age also affects absolute pitch rates. And how much the rates drop off as exposure to music education and tonal-language exposure starts at later ages.

u/CalibanDrive · 3 pointsr/AskScienceDiscussion

I would strongly recommend looking up the book Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by the late and inimitable Dr. Oliver Sacks. Also the book This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession by Prof. Daniel J. Levitin

u/Fuck_Dacts · 2 pointsr/Anxiety

I have it too though I can control it quite well. I'm a musician and music teacher so constantly listening. Are you always listening too? I find after a deep song learning stages (20 songs in 3 days) it gets worse. That is from the tetris effect. What you do becomes you.

Can you write or sing anything down? It might be a way to get it out of your system.

In addition I find that when I'm over thinking I deliberately start a drum beat to help me relax. To each their own but it works for me.

Oh! Have you read Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks? On music and the brain. Not exactly to do with your case though may explain a few things. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1400033535?pc_redir=1413335627&robot_redir=1

u/TastyPancakes · 2 pointsr/explainlikeimfive

When you're asleep, your mind is less distracted and you may have many kinds of creative experiences. Different brains respond to music differently. Oliver Sacks, the famous professor of neurology, talks about this kind of thing in [one of his books] (http://www.amazon.com/Musicophilia-Tales-Music-Revised-Expanded/dp/1400033535/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1367444787&sr=1-5&keywords=oliver+sacks)

u/Creedelback · 2 pointsr/AskReddit

Read Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks. He talks about this very thing.

i can't remember all the details but in some cases, this form of amusia went away on its own. In others, it occurred in much older individuals and they ended up just having to adjust to living with it.

And aside from that, it's also a great book all around.

u/BrockHardcastle · 2 pointsr/edmproduction

Both this book by Levitin, and this book by Sacks address it. Both are great reads. Side note: I believe the Levitin book came out before the Sacks book. Sacks wrote a glowing blurb in Levitin's book, and then Sacks wrote a book on nearly the same thing. I found it weird.

u/will42 · 2 pointsr/Music

There's an interesting book on the subject, written by Daniel J. Levitin. It's called:

This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of A Human Obsession


Oliver Sacks has an excellent book on the subject as well:

Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain

u/Error8 · 2 pointsr/atheism
u/Draxonn · 2 pointsr/adventism

Music absolutely affects our mind, but that doesn't make it evil. The interactions are very complex and we are only beginning to understand them. If you're interested in this, I recommend these two books to begin:

This Is Your Brain on Music

Musicophilia

u/sandhouse · 2 pointsr/askscience

I read a book that had some science of music in it. "This is Your Brain on Music". I don't remember the specifics of it so I won't try to repeat it here because I'll probably say something inaccurate. That book isn't the only one of it's kind (good book by the way). If you are really interested in the subject I'm sure you can find some interesting information.

http://www.amazon.com/This-Your-Brain-Music-Obsession/dp/0525949690

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400033535/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0525949690&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=02HTPTSMBADCZZE5BDMV

u/frozenbobo · 2 pointsr/askscience

Unfortunately I can't answer your question (and don't have expertise in this subject at all). However, I did watch a documentary called Musical Minds, in which they examine music and the brain. I might be imagining things, but I think they addressed how animals perceive music differently from us (or maybe only primates can perceive it the way we do?). If you can watch it, it might give you an answer.

It also had a related book: Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain

u/cosmictap · 2 pointsr/videos

I don't think there's an English word for that (although I bet there's a German compound word for it), but it's called a "music evoked autobiographical memory". If you're really interested in that stuff, you'll like Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks.

Also, here's some research done on it:

u/liberateyourmind · 1 pointr/Drugs

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1400033535/ref=mp_s_a_6?pi=SL75&qid=1347572917&sr=8-6
Really good book on neuroscience. A very easy and interesting read. I would recommend it for any music lover too.

u/Altaco · 1 pointr/trees

Check out this book, it's awesome. Fascinating stuff on music and the brain.

u/Godfodder · 1 pointr/evolution

OP, I think you'd enjoy Oliver Sack's Musicophilia, it's quite an interesting read. It doesn't talk about music from an evolutionary standpoint (that I remember), but a from psychological perspective. It should be easy to find at a library.

u/amosko · 1 pointr/AskReddit

It could be musical hallucinations. Doesn't mean you're crazy. It could be caused by minor seizures or fronto-temporal lobe trauma or damage. Check out the book Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks to learn more about it.

u/dadadu · 1 pointr/explainlikeimfive

The great Oliver Sacks has dedicated an entire chapter of his latest book to this argument, it's very intriguing.

on amazon

u/Biophilia_curiosus · 1 pointr/reddit.com

That is incredible. Have you read Oliver Sack's Musicphilia? I haven't yet but it's high on my list.

u/luxbwin · 1 pointr/ADHD

I would read musicophilia and this is your brain on music. I found them to be both fascinating and full of information on earworms.

u/EATS_MANY_BURRITOS · 1 pointr/explainlikeimfive

Musical experience is the sum experience of many different parts of the brain cooperating. Essentially, the sonic characteristics of music activate many different parts of the brain that are involved in rhythm, pitch resolution, as well as speech, pleasure, emotion, motivation, etc., so it's a holistic effect of many parts of your brain.

However, one of the key areas activated is the amygdala, an area that is deeply involved with a lot of "lizard brain" stuff, like emotional reactions and memory. The chills you get from music (when your "hackles rise") originate from there (as well as a number of other related brain systems).

If you're interested in this topic, you may want to read the book Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks, a neurologist. Interesting stuff.

For a more in-depth, technical look at it, read the Wikipedia article on the cognitive neuroscience of music.

u/GuitarGreg · 1 pointr/metalmusicians

If you want more information about this, read This Is Your Brain On Music by Daniel J. Levitin. Another cool one is Musicophilia by Dr. Oliver Sacks, but that one is more about brain disorders that cause very strange music-related phenomenon. Like the inability to detect pitch, or sense melody, and other weird stuff.

u/the_shib · 1 pointr/AskReddit

You should read this book: http://www.amazon.com/Musicophilia-Tales-Music-Revised-Expanded/dp/1400033535/ref=sr_1_2/177-3864365-2704134?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265580858&sr=1-2

He does some studies on people who hear music constantly or become instant music savants. It's quite interesting.

u/mariox19 · 1 pointr/books

I found The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins to be fascinating. A couple of other books I read recently that I thought were really good are The Drunkard's Walk by Leonard Mlodinow (it's about probability in our daily lives) and Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks.

u/The_Bard · 1 pointr/videos

This will probably never make it near the top over all the memes and puns but what he is experiencing is likely due to overactivity in the parts of the brain that deal with interpreting musice and possibly even a medical condition. It is too bad 60 minutes didn't even remotely explore that angle. Oliver sacks wrote a whole book about this type of thing