Strange Disease Turns Brains Into iPods

From today’s New York Times "Seven years ago Reginald King was lying in a hospital bed recovering from bypass surgery when he first heard the music."

"It began with a pop tune, and others followed. Mr. King heard everything from cabaret songs to Christmas carols. "I asked the nurses if they could hear the music, and they said no," said Mr. King, a retired sales manager in Cardiff, Wales."

"…Each day, the music returns. "They’re all songs I’ve heard during my lifetime," said Mr. King, 83. "One would come on, and then it would run into another one, and that’s how it goes on in my head. It’s driving me bonkers, to be quite honest."

"Last year, Mr. King was referred to Dr. Victor Aziz, a psychiatrist at St. Cadoc’s Hospital in Wales. Dr. Aziz explained to him that there was a name for his experience: musical hallucinations."

"…They also suspect that many cases of musical hallucinations go undiagnosed…."

"Musical hallucinations were invading people’s minds long before they were recognized as a medical condition. "Plenty of musical composers have had musical hallucinations," Dr. Aziz said." 

"…Patients reported hearing a wide variety of songs, among them "Don’t Cry for Me Argentina" and "Three Blind Mice."

"In two-thirds of the cases, the music was religious; six people reporting hearing the hymn "Abide With Me."

"Dr. Aziz believes that people tend to hear songs they have heard repeatedly or that are emotionally significant to them. "There is a meaning behind these things," he said."