Tag: Mozart
-
Oliver Sacks and caring for the whole person
Margaret MarcumBoca Raton, Florida The neurologist Oliver Sacks—“The Poet Laureate of Medicine” according to The New York Times—developed an effective clinical method of treating the patient as a complete person rather than as a defective body part. He wrote that clinicians “are concerned not simply with a handful of ‘symptoms,’ but with a person, and…
-
The lost art and the hidden treasure
Jennifer BinghamPittsburgh, Pennsylvania The puzzle box is empty and the pieces are scattered across the table. After all, a puzzle was never meant to stay in the box. The trouble begins when a few pieces have fallen off the table. The excitement of seeing the purpose and design of the puzzle distract from the realization…
-
Visualizing Mozart
Vincent de LuiseNew Haven, Connecticut, United States The music, life, and legacy of Wolfgang Amadé Mozart (Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, 1756-1791) continue to fascinate and enthrall.1,10,15,19, Footnote 1 Mozart has been the subject of more books, articles, and commentary than any composer in the Western canon. Mozart brought Classical style to its apotheosis, creating…
-
Mozart’s “effect” on us: A review of an aspect of music and cognition
Vincent de LuiseNew Haven, Connecticut, United States For decades, neuroscientists have explored whether there exists a causal relationship between listening to music and enhancement of cognitive ability. Does music make one smarter? Can listening to music lead to more memory and greater intellect? Does listening specifically to the music of Wolfgang Mozart improve cognitive ability?…
-
Ice cream or Mozart?
Leon MorgensternLos Angeles, California, United States How would I answer a question if the quality of my life depended on the answer? A recent article about end-of-life decisions1 discussed how a worried daughter had sprung the following questions as her father was about to undergo a very risky operation: how much pain he would tolerate…
-
When the sensory lens is an artistic prism: The brain, Kandinsky, and multisensory art
Gregory W. RuteckiCleveland, Ohio, United States In 1812 an Austrian physician named Georg Sachs published a medical dissertation about his family’s albinism.1,2 Conspicuous by inclusion, Sachs claimed to simultaneously hear and see colored music. His claim of a sensory duality is considered the first explicit mention of what would be later identified as synesthesia (from…