“Music is the shorthand of emotion”, Leo Tolstoy
I have been reading the relatively new books on music and the brain and watching PBS documentaries recently on this very subject. In particular neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin has produced excellent programs featuring such musicians as Sting whose brain has been examined through MRIs while playing and composing and even thinking about music. The results are astounding. This has led me to the question of whether or not music could be used for treatment of fibromyalgia, as in music therapy. The book and movie Awakenings and the further work of Oliver Sacks has made me reach the conclusion that music is a therapy for many neurological conditions. I watch that tiny infant in the picture as she listens attentively to her uncle playing his guitar for her and know that she is mesmerized. She is calm and content.
