I Remember That Song!

That beginning quote is about savant syndrome. Savant syndrome can be caused by a brain injury, but cognitive skills can be magnified. All the other issues exist. Such is my case. I'm smart as a whip, but only use the one finger this is typed with. Music is seen as a "healer" in savant syndrome. That is only one type of brain injury. Music should be applied to all brain injury.

Music As a Healer

The music of the savant is delightful in its own right, and we are its beneficiaries. But it has a healing aspect to it also for the savant himself or herself. The 60 Minutes program title “Musically Speaking” is an apt one, for as that program demonstrates, and as Soundscape documents, music provides for the savant the “conduit toward normalization,” particularly language acquisition, that I address elsewhere on this site. Recent research documents that musical exposure can increase verbal memory, and with it, language acquisition. With that increased language skill comes increased social skills as well,   https://www.wisconsinmedicalsociety.org/professional/savant-syndrome/resources/articles/musical-genius-blindness-and-mental-handicap-an-intriguing-triad/

Music works for other areas.

Music therapy can do this part shown in the video, because the whole therapy is taking a long time to approve, http://braininjuryknow.blogspot.com/2016/03/using-that-hand-again.html
 

I recommend singing for speech problems. "Breath from the diaphragm." I didn't get that advice from speech therapy, but yrs ago from grade school music  (Hint: if you are not producing sound when trying to speak, it MIGHT be breathing. It's not always, but there is a good chance.) 

SOCIAL SKILLS come as well. "Recent research documents that musical exposure can increase verbal memory, and with it, language acquisition. With that increased language skill comes increased social skills as well" https://www.wisconsinmedicalsociety.org/professional/savant-syndrome/resources/articles/musical-genius-blindness-and-mental-handicap-an-intriguing-triad/

I find the following interesting. Music is used for cognition. It is used to bring back memory and function. This movie is based on a true story. In it, the main character does not speak or function without a certain music playing in the background.

"You know how you hear a song, and it places you back in that moment you fell in love with it?"

I quoted the trailer, but the music therapist takes it further.
 

 

I have an idea. Television played a big part in my life and most people I know. My idea is to use old television theme songs. They may bring up long forgotten memories. Here are some. You may add more in the comments.

   

Short-term To Long-term

Does short-term memory transfer to long-term or do the memories never come back?

Repetition over and over is good for this. What is therapy? The therapist has you do the same exercise repeatedly. Whether it is speech, physical therapy, or occupational therapy. The therapist knows different activities and exercises that do the same thing so you don't get bored.

The skill learned will either transfer to long-term memory or become a habit. Either way it is learned. Memory coming back would be faster, but instead of waiting, just start teaching through repetition. If the person gets mad at you ("We already did this!") that's good. The memory is coming back. Just ask what should be done or what happens.

Don't be discouraged if you are repeating for years. Some brain injuries take longer.

Memories...

 

(Pictures are a good way of preserving memories.)

 

If the memory was stored in the area of the brain that was damaged or is gone,  then there is a good chance the memory is gone.

"Good chance." It's not known for sure. One belief, and you won't find it in a science text is that memory is "non-local." That is it's not in the brain.

Now, if you prescribe to the government's decision that all the lobes of my brain are dead, and I only have brainstem, then all my memory must be non-local and I am tapping this knowledge through ESP.

A few years after my bleed a private institution removed the blood clot from my head that caused the severe brain injury. They are separate from the government. An MRI was done before and after surgery. If I didn't have brain activity then, they would have highly publicized it. I did have activity. The first  MRI should not be used to determine my current situation.

Now, there are some memories I don't have. I worried about that for a while. There were other things that had to be done, so I don't have time to fret about it.

For a long time I've thought music is very therapeutic. I believe music  lessons build the wiring needed for rewiring (neuroplasticity). Music lessons in early childhood is good for later life.

A recent study shows it is specifically good for brain injury later in life, http://neurosciencenews.com/music-memories-brain-injuries-665/  It brings back memories. This particular study used pop songs from the last few decades. These were songs that participants heard years earlier.

Remember how I said I thought music is somehow tied to wiring? Those lost memories had been somehow wired to those old songs.

Music is important to brain injury then. Not just any music. It will have to be the music you used to listen.

As for that theory that memory is non-local.... Well you didn't lose your memories. You lost your ESP. Music would just be making you psychic if you remember anything. 

*I am only addressing experiences that have been encoded.