Before I start the actual blog, this note. I’m not pushing anyone to read the books mentioned, selling anything, endorsing anything.\u00a0 I just want to relate my experiences.\u00a0 Ok, now the actual blog:<\/p>\n
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Have you heard of neuroplasticity?\u00a0 I hadn’t until my book group chose “The Brain that Changes Itself” by Dr. Norman Doidge.\u00a0 My first thought about reading it was “ugh – great, a science book.”\u00a0 However, my narrowminded preconception broke wide open when I actually started to read it.\u00a0 This led me to another book called “This is Your Brain on Music” by David Levitin, PhD.\u00a0 I’m not going to make this post about science. I know you can Google it if you want to learn more.\u00a0 But it has definitely affected me and these books and other articles I’ve read since have explained what’s happening to me.<\/p>\n
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It’s no secret that one of the things I really miss is music. When I was a kid, I begged (and received) piano lessons.\u00a0 When I was 14, I went to Sam Goody and bought a “pretty” guitar for\u00a0$20 and\u00a0I\u00a0learned how to play “Michael Row Your Boat Ashore” in one day.\u00a0\u00a0 If I was listening to the radio I got\u00a0annoyed when they broke into the music with news, commercials, or anything else but the top\u00a025.\u00a0 At night I fell asleep to my record player usually playing soft jazz.\u00a0 To this day, I remember the words to many rock and roll songs of the 60s even though I can’t remember what I did two days ago.\u00a0 I think you get the point.\u00a0 I love music and miss it very much.<\/p>\n
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I also might have told you that when you can’t hear, it’s easy to forget how to say words. You\u00a0go a long time without hearing them and then suddenly you realize you don’t remember how to say it. I’ve practiced my speech by singing along to the old rock and roll I remember from the time I\u00a0could hear.\u00a0 I usually do it when I’m alone so as not to torture anyone else, but it works.\u00a0 I’ve kept my speech ability.<\/p>\n
Ok, now to bring this together and tell you what’s happening.<\/p>\n
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When I\u00a0play my old music, I hear it in my head almost as clearly as if I were listening with my ears and sometimes,\u00a0my head even hears songs that aren’t playing.\u00a0 I once got through a 35 minute MRI by letting my head play a mixed playlist.\u00a0 No one understood how I\u00a0could hear music so clearly in my head\u00a0and frankly,\u00a0I didn’t understand it myself.\u00a0 And then I read something about\u00a0a test that was done\u00a0 – I wish I had a better memory so I could tell you the article and describe it exactly, but I think giving you the jist of it will work.<\/p>\n
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Researchers\u00a0hooked up\u00a0some people to MRIs (or something like that) and played music.\u00a0 They recorded what parts of the brain “lit up” and how intensely they lit up.\u00a0\u00a0 Then they turned the music off and asked the people to remember the songs – play them again in their heads.\u00a0 To their shock, the same parts of the brain lit up again with almost the same amount of intensity.\u00a0 Though the intensity was a little less, it showed that to the brain there was not much difference in actually hearing the song or remembering it.\u00a0 And that, I believe, \u00a0is how my brain plays music.\u00a0 And as an aside, Darling Hubby insists that since I lost my hearing, I have perfect pitch.\u00a0 Apparently without hearing the outside world to throw me off, I can sing better.\u00a0 It doesn’t help my voice, but you can’t have everything. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
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So I started thinking about how I can interpret Darling Hubby’s sounds as words on the phone (previous post.)\u00a0 Is that my brain rewiring itself too?\u00a0 Is my brain compensating for my ears?\u00a0 Granted it’s taken and is still taking a long time, but who knows what the brain can do?\u00a0 I had a hearing test two weeks ago and both Wonderful Audiologist and I had a laugh because I hear beeps she didn’t provide.\u00a0 And though I don’t hear the machine’s beeps, I felt vibrations for some of them.\u00a0 A little tickle really, but I felt something rather than heard it.\u00a0 Now this may not be exciting by itself, but my brain found a way to know a few of the beeps were there. Where it will go, I have no idea. But it excites me that this relatively new field of science might help others.<\/p>\n
Read the links below if you want some more information.\u00a0 And in the meantime, I’ll practice my drums.\u00a0 I can’t hear them but boy can I feel that tickle!<\/p>\n
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http:\/\/www.time.com\/time\/magazine\/article\/0,9171,1580438,00.html<\/a><\/p>\n