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2012 News Milestone No. 4 By Nancy Malitz November 29, 2012 Medical Researchers Use Music to Revive Dormant Brain Pathways A star of the event (called “Music, the Brain and Wellness: A Scientific Dialogue”) was Harvard Medical School neuroscientist Gottfried Schlaug, who presented a video of a mute autistic boy, age five, being guided through a series of pitch and rhythm exercises (called auditory-motor mapping training). After about ten sessions, the boy utter "bubbles"—his first words, ever. Schlaug is a musician himself and the author of The Brain of Musicians: A Model for Functional and Structural Adaptation. He has also co-authored many tracts such as this one about overlapping brain functions and the use of auditory stimulation techniques to help with tone-deafness, aphasia, and recovery from stroke. In a conference filled with surprises, Wall Street Journal’s Stuart Isacoff cited other “mind-bending” moments. What’s the status now, what awaits: While music-related neuroscience is just getting started, music’s effectiveness as a tool to revive or increase the brain’s capacity has long been intuited by musicians and music-lovers. This conference, which organizers say will happen every other year, was a key step in providing the scientific proof of music's efficacy in healing and learning.
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