DM's Beatles forums

Other forums => Different Conversations => Topic started by: Normandie on June 06, 2022, 07:01:34 PM

Title: Musical anhedonia
Post by: Normandie on June 06, 2022, 07:01:34 PM

I find this topic fascinating. Imagine not deriving any pleasure from music!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_anhedonia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_anhedonia)

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/03/please-dont-stop-the-music-or-do-stop-the-music-i-dont-really-mind/519099/ (https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/03/please-dont-stop-the-music-or-do-stop-the-music-i-dont-really-mind/519099/)

Looks like there are a decent number of studies that have examined this. I'm looking forward to exploring it further.

Title: Re: Musical anhedonia
Post by: Moogmodule on June 07, 2022, 06:59:42 AM
I think my band induced it in the audience.
Title: Re: Musical anhedonia
Post by: Normandie on June 09, 2022, 12:40:02 AM
I think my band induced it in the audience.

Ha ha.  :)

Just read this letter to the editor of Brain & Life and thought it interesting. Italics added by me.

The editor-in-chief's column . . . mentioned that music may engage parts of the brain untouched by stroke or dementia. I am proof of that. Six or seven years ago, I experienced memory loss related to encephalitis. I have to write down everything I do, including when I've eaten or taken my medication. I can't tell anyone what I did yesterday without looking in my diary, but I can go to the piano and learn a new piece. During the pandemic, I joined an online singing group for people with Alzheimer's disease and dementia, which inspired me to play music for my 93-year-old grandmother[,] who has dementia. Seeing the difference music made in her life was just plain wonderful. For both of us, music is the best medicine we could ask for.

Title: Re: Musical anhedonia
Post by: Moogmodule on June 09, 2022, 09:25:25 AM
It is a fascinating area. The title story from the famous book by Oliver Sacks,  The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat, has Sacks basically prescribing to a musician who is suffering visual agnosia to make music his life as he could function well in the musical realm.
Title: Re: Musical anhedonia
Post by: Normandie on June 09, 2022, 09:28:32 PM
It is a fascinating area. The title story from the famous book by Oliver Sacks,  The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat, has Sacks basically prescribing to a musician who is suffering visual agnosia to make music his life as he could function well in the musical realm.

Interesting! I see Sacks also wrote Awakenings. My college friends used to enthusiastically recommend the movie to me; I can't recall why. I assume it had something to do with either psychology or music, my two great loves.

I never did watch it. I should track it down.
Title: Re: Musical anhedonia
Post by: Moogmodule on June 09, 2022, 11:13:51 PM
Interesting! I see Sacks also wrote Awakenings. My college friends used to enthusiastically recommend the movie to me; I can't recall why. I assume it had something to do with either psychology or music, my two great loves.

I never did watch it. I should track it down.

Sacks’ books are great reads. Awakenings was a good film of the book. Robin Williams and De Niro we’re both great in it.
Title: Re: Musical anhedonia
Post by: Hello Goodbye on June 09, 2022, 11:40:18 PM
^

I agree, Moog.  The book and movie are both great and factual when it came to the use of l-dopa as a treatment for encephalitis lethargica; what the Robert De Niro character (Leonard Lowe) was suffering from.
Title: Re: Musical anhedonia
Post by: Moogmodule on June 10, 2022, 01:27:47 AM
^

I agree, Moog.  The book and movie are both great and factual when it came to the use of l-dopa as a treatment for encephalitis lethargica; what the Robert De Niro character (Leonard Lowe) was suffering from.

Yes it’s fascinating stuff

Reading Sacks books showed just how much we just assume basic things in the brain will work. And how horrific when they don’t. Things can go wrong we didn’t even know were possible to go wrong.
Title: Re: Musical anhedonia
Post by: Hello Goodbye on June 10, 2022, 03:23:30 AM
Sacks’ books are great reads. Awakenings was a good film of the book. Robin Williams and De Niro we’re both great in it.

Moog, I got all misty toward the end of the movie when Leonard's tics temporarily disappeared when he danced with Paula.
Title: Re: Musical anhedonia
Post by: Moogmodule on June 10, 2022, 04:27:01 AM
Moog, I got all misty toward the end of the movie when Leonard's tics temporarily disappeared when he danced with Paula.

Oh yeah  :'(
Title: Re: Musical anhedonia
Post by: Hello Goodbye on June 10, 2022, 12:30:10 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtL5tGpGIN8# (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtL5tGpGIN8#)
Title: Re: Musical anhedonia
Post by: Normandie on July 10, 2022, 11:38:45 PM
Ehhhh, deleted.

Still struggling a bit vis-a-vis my son. Note to self: Stay away from online activity until you have your s--t together.  roll:)
Title: Re: Musical anhedonia
Post by: Normandie on July 12, 2022, 02:50:10 AM
I've been thinking that I'd really like to learn more about the basics of music; I feel that with a deeper understanding I can appreciate better the music I listen to. 
Title: Re: Musical anhedonia
Post by: Normandie on August 23, 2022, 01:26:05 AM

I should have followed my gut instinct 30 years ago and gone for a PhD in social psychology, focusing on music and behavior. I have a bunch of these articles bookmarked. Unfortunately, it's too late to go back.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11031-012-9320-7 (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11031-012-9320-7)

Mad and glad: Musically induced emotions have divergent impact on morals

Angelika Seidel & Jesse Prinz

Motivation and Emotion volume 37, pages 629–637 (2013)


Abstract

Moral judgments can be positive or negative: we can judge action as good or wrong. Here we show that good judgments and wrong judgments are influenced by incidental emotions. Using instrumental music as an induction method, we show that anger, but not happiness, increases the tendency to judge actions as wrong (Experiment 1). We also show that happiness increases the tendency to praise actions as both good and obligatory, while anger reduces these judgments (Experiment 2). These findings extend the literature on emotions and moral judgment by demonstrating impact of anger and happiness, and by contrasting goodness and wrongness in their emotional valence. The findings also show that music can have a significant impact on moral judgment. This is important because music is a highly prevalent situational variable. The use of instrumental music may have advantages over other induction techniques because it does not carry specific semantic cues that might encourage people to think about morality.