Musicphilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, a book by Oliver Sacks in which he explores the range of psychological and physiological disorders and their exciting connections to music. The book is divided into four parts, each named after its own name; the first part is called "Haunted by Music", which analyzes the origins of musicality and the mysterious "musicphilia". The second part is the domain of music, which looks at musical events and musical emotions. The third part is called "Memory, Movement and Music", while the fourth is called "Emotion, Identity and Music". Each part consists of 6 to 8 chapters, each devoted to a particular study issue, and the studies are related to the section title. The presentation of the book in this format makes the reading process disjointed in the case of reading the book from beginning to end or in those cases where the reader wants to read it quickly without the full context. Four studies from the book appeared on the Nova program Musical Minds, which was broadcast on June 30, 2009. According to Sacks, he wrote Musicophilia to try to broaden the general concept of music for society and its effect on the brain. Sacks also states in the book's introduction that music is ever-present and influences our daily lives and how we act and think, but that some species of animals whose musical prowess is easier to understand at a biological and developmental stage. Likewise, humanity's attraction to music and song is less obvious, as there is no "musical region" in the brain, but most people have an innate ability to distinguish between "music, notes, timbre, pitch, melodic features, harmony, and rhythm." With this in mind, Sacks analyzed human musical tendencies through the lens of music therapy sessions, where many neurological injuries and diseases have been successfully treated through music. This concept helped motivate Sacks to collect medical cases that have been treated and experienced with music in some form. In doing so, Sacks corrected each example by explaining the neurological elements that played a role in the patients' treatment and health in ways that would astound curious audiences. “In Musicphilia, Sacks discusses the intersection of music and neuroscience—music as suffering and music as therapy,” Peter D. Kramer wrote in a review for The Washington Post. “A dynamic lack of direction drives Sacks’s other work while Musicphilia threatens to disintegrate into a catalog of disparate appearances,” Kramer continued. “What makes Musicphilia make sense is Sacks himself, the book’s moral argument with his curiosity, his education, his concern. Sacks categorized the medical profession as the human race.” Kramer concluded his review by writing: "In short, Sacks is the perfect representative of the vision that musical response is fundamental to our constitution and also the perfect guide to his field because Musicophilia allows its readers to join Sacks at the height of his life among his rhythms and his patients. Musicophilia was named one of the best books of 2007 by the Washington Post. Sacks includes discussions of several different conditions related to music and also conditions that are affected by the help of music. These include musical conditions such as musical hallucinations, absolute tone, and synesthesia, and non-musical conditions such as blindness, memory loss, and Alzheimer's. Sacks first discusses musical epilepsy, in which he often talks about a person who has a tumor in the left temporal lobe that causes seizures during which he hears music. Sacks then writes that musical hallucinations often accompany deafness, partial hearing loss, or conditions such as tinnitus. Sacks focuses a lot on absolute tone, which is defined as when a person can immediately distinguish a musical note. One condition to which Sacks devotes a lot of time is synesthesia. Sacks discusses the types of synesthesia: primary synesthesia and non-musical synesthesia, which It concerns numbers, letters, days, and also synesthesia, which is usually related to sounds in general, rhythm, tempo, and the type that makes a person see lights and shapes instead of colors. Finally, Sacks explained the cases in which synesthesia accompanies blindness. Sacks discussed how blindness affects the perception of music and musical notes, and also wrote about how absolute pitch is more common in blind musicians than in sighted musicians. Sacks wrote about Clive Wearing, who suffers from amnesia, and how he can still read music and play the piano, but only Clive can do this in the moment. He also wrote about Tourette syndrome and the effects of music on its seizures, for example, slowing the seizures to the rhythm of a song. Sacks likened Parkinson's syndrome to Tourette syndrome, as songs with strong rhythms help with movement and balance. Sacks briefly discussed Williams syndrome and how he found that children with it connect with music. Sacks ended his book with a discussion of Alzheimer's and amnesia, and how music therapy can help people with diseases that affect memory. Certain parts of the brain are linked to how we use it to interact with music. For example, the cerebellum coordinates movement, stores muscle memory, and reacts well to music. An example of this would be an Alzheimer's patient not being able to recognize his wife but still being able to play the piano because he committed his piano knowledge to muscle memory during his youth. These memories never go away. Another example is the putamen, which is the part of the brain that analyzes rhythm and controls body movement and balance. Dopamine increases in the putamen when it is identified with music, which leads to an increased response to rhythms. Then music plays its role and stops the symptoms of diseases such as Parkinson's. Music is like a savior for these patients and the symptoms return when it is taken away from them. When asked what type of music patients respond to best, it is determined by the patient's background and past. In patients with memory loss, it was found that most patients respond to music they heard when they were young and it does not depend on a rhythm pattern or element. Neuroscientist Kimino Sugaia said that "this means that memories connected to music are emotional memories and will never go away, even in Alzheimer's patients." Many studies have been found on the positives of music therapy since the 1970s for clients suffering from medical conditions, psychological trauma, learning difficulties and special needs. Many documented studies of children have shown positive effects in promoting self-actualization and developing receptive, cognitive and expressive abilities. Positive results have also been issued in studies that were on adults 18+, but the conclusions were limited due to explicit bias. Small sample sizes. Music is a major part of all cultures and represents all human emotional states and can also transport you through time and memories. Oliver Sacks, author of Musicophilia, acknowledged the unconscious effects of music, where our bodies tend to join in unintended rhythmic movements. Sacks noticed after working with clients suffering from various types of neurological diseases the therapeutic potential and receptivity of music as a means of communication, expression and coping even after language loss. The famous music therapists Paul Nordoff and Clive Robbins recorded their work and results with children suffering from emotional and behavioral problems, psychological trauma and special needs through audio and video recordings. Robbins classified the inner personality in every child who elicits healthy musical responses as the “musical child.” Music is the stimulus through which we can discover the child’s potential, as musical toys create an atmosphere that encourages the child to express himself freely and productively. Sometimes family members notice the effects immediately because the self is encouraged and cared for, and thus the child’s personality develops in response to music. First; The client is evaluated by a music therapist to determine his/her impairment, preference, and skill level, since each person appreciates and prefers a different type of music. Therapy is then tailored to the individual’s goals and preferences, as well as the length of sessions. The client’s process is evaluated based on its effectiveness. Sessions are often structured, and the therapist remains flexible and tries to meet his/her clients emotionally and physically. When music therapy was first introduced alongside other medical fields, the response was open-ended, and patients listened to live solo music performances or pre-recorded songs. However, today therapists allow more creative approaches, such as allowing clients to improvise, reproduce or imitate melodies with their voices or instruments, make their own songs, or listen to them with artistic expression through physical movement. Recent studies have investigated the effects of music on patients with chemotherapy, stroke, Alzheimer’s, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and nursing home patients. According to a 2017 report by Maggie, Clark-Tamplin, and Brad, a common element in their studies is positive effects on mood, psychological and physical well-being, increased motivation, social connection, and the connection to the client’s musical identity. The Department of Oncology/Hematology at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf organized a randomized training study to determine whether music therapy helps patients with pain and reduces the side effects of chemotherapy. Sessions were given twice a week for 20 minutes, during which the patient decided whether to use an active or receptive approach. Quality of life, ability to perform tasks, and depression/anxiety were assessed weekly. Although emotional functioning scores increased significantly and pain perception improved significantly, they insisted that the results were inconclusive because patients had different levels of manageable side effects and hope for survival, which may affect their expectations of treatment. However, patients rated the program positively and found it helpful and beneficial. The feasibility of these studies also allows practitioners to practice in educational, psychological, and medical settings, especially since there was no statistical significance except for a few pilot studies in adults, but the trend shows improvements on most measures. Musicphilia at the author's site Goldsworthy, Anna. "Wunderbar". The Monthly.