My Doctor has found it associated with Lyme disease!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_870000/870054.stm
Scans uncover 'music of the mind'
Damage to a particular part of the brain may cause hallucinations
Bizarre musical hallucinations may be caused by damage to a particular
region of the brain, doctors have discovered.
It is unusual for patients to suffer from such hallucinations without
other trappings of mental illness.
In most cases, the music is familiar to the patient
Dr Eva Schielke
A case study reported in the journal Neurology involved a 57-year-old
German who developed continuous hallucinations consisting of men's and
children's choruses singing folk songs.
The hallucinations came on while he was in hospital, having complained
of symptoms including dizziness and numbness, which, after a brain
scan, turned out to be an abscess containing bacterial meningitis.
Antibiotics were used to tackle it, but during his recovery the strange
music started.
Dr Eva Schielke, a neurologist at the University Hospital in Berlin,
said: "He only became aware of the hallucinations several hours after
they began - he had expected to find a carnival or celebration in the
schoolyard next to the hospital."
Despite the antibiotics treating the abscess, the imaginary sounds
lasted for five weeks - he left hospital 11 weeks later.
However, doctors believe that it was the location of the abscess that
was key to the hallucination.
The region of the brain, called the dorsal pons, has been associated
with other cases, although only a handful have ever been reported.
All suffered from severe disorder stroke, brain haemorrhage or
encephalitis, and had abnormalities of that part of the brain.
Range of tastes
However, the type of music endured by the patient varied widely from
country to country.
Dr Schielke said: "A French patient heard popular French chansons,
another heard Mozart and a Canadian patient heard Glenn Miller big band
music.
"In most cases, the music is familiar to the patient. Our patient, for
example, heard folk songs which he liked to listen to before."
Researchers have the theory that these hallucinations are triggered by
disruption in the communication pathways between different parts of the
brain.
It may limit the function of nerve cells that stop the brain from
hallucinating.
Older people suffering from chronic and extensive hearing loss do
complain of similar musical hallucinations, although these are thought
to be brought on by sensory deprivation.
Source: American Academy Of Neurology (http://www.aan.com/)
Date: Posted 8/9/2000
Rare Hallucinations Make Music In The Mind
ST. PAUL, MN -- Some hear choruses singing folk songs, others hear
Mozart or even the Glenn Miller Orchestra -- but there is no music;
they are hallucinating.
New research in the August 8 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal
of the American Academy of Neurology, confirms the region of the brain
and condition that causes this rare and bizarre disorder.
Researchers have connected lesions on the dorsal pons, a part of the
brain stem, with multiple cases of musical hallucinations. Lesions such
as these are most often caused by stroke but can also be the result of
tumors, encephalitis, or abscesses.
The case study outlined in this issue of Neurology involves a 57-year-
old with symptoms including dizziness and right-sided numbness of his
body. An MRI showed a lesion, or abnormal growth, in the dorsal pons
which turned out to be an abscess with bacterial meningitis.
Antibiotics were administered and the patient improved rapidly.
However, during his recovery, the patient developed continuous auditory
hallucinations in his right ear, consisting of men's and children's
choruses singing folk songs.
"He only became aware of the hallucinations several hours after they
began -- he had expected to find a carnival or celebration in the
schoolyard next to the hospital," said study author Eva Schielke, MD, a
neurologist at University Hospital Charité in Berlin, Germany. Even
though the patient was fully alert and aware he was imagining the
sounds, the hallucinations persisted for five weeks. A prolonged
antibiotic treatment was eventually successful and the man was released
after 11 weeks having almost completely recovered.
Only 10 other cases of musical hallucinations with dorsal pons lesions
have ever been reported. In all but one of the cases, patients were
alert and aware that they were hallucinating. All patients suffered
from severe disorders such as stroke, brain hemorrhage or encephalitis
within two weeks of the onset of the lesion.
"A French patient heard popular French chansons, another heard Mozart,
and a Canadian patient heard Glenn Miller big band music," said
Schielke. "In most cases, the music is familiar to the patient. Our
patient, for example, heard folk songs which he liked to listen to
before."
Musical hallucinations in non-psychiatric patients are most common in
elderly people suffering from chronic and extensive hearing loss. In
those cases, it is theorized that sensory deprivation causes the
disorder.
This study describes a quick onset of hallucinations with no long-term
hearing loss. Researchers have theorized that these types of
hallucinations may be triggered by a disruption in communication
pathways between the sensory centers in the neocortex of the brain and
a bundle of nerve cells and fibers in the brain stem called the
reticular formation. The disruption may cause auditory hallucinations
by limiting the function of neurons that stop the brain from
hallucinating.
Editor's Note: The original news release can be found at
http://www.aan.com/public/nrelease/musichallu.htm
Monday, August 07, 2000
Musical hallucinations linked to brain disorders
NEW YORK, Aug 07 (Reuters Health) - Stroke often robs the ability to
speak or to move an arm or leg. For a handful of people, stroke or
other brain disorders have another effect--"musical hallucinations" in
which patients hear a constant melody. Now doctors have zeroed in on
the part of the brain responsible for the bizarre symptom.
Lesions in a part of the brain stem called the dorsal pons seem to be
behind the 11 reported cases of musical hallucinations, researchers
report in the August issue of Neurology. Dr. Eva Schielke and her
colleagues at University Hospital Charite in Berlin, Germany, describe
the case of one 57-year-old man whose bout with meningitis caused him
to hear a boys' choir singing folk tunes.
The patient only became aware of the hallucinations several hours after
they began, and, according to Schielke's team, he thought he was
hearing a "celebration" in the schoolyard near the hospital. His
musical interludes lasted for 5 weeks.
Only 10 other such cases have been reported. When musical
hallucinations occur, it is usually among psychiatric patients or older
people who have gone deaf.
Schielke told Reuters Health that among people who lose their hearing,
this long-term sensory deprivation leads to a "release of musical
memories." In the case of her patient and the 10 others, however,
lesions on the dorsal pons seem to "interrupt" certain nerve fibers in
the brain stem.
No one knows why these patients hear music in particular, according to
Schielke. And while some of them are "mildly annoyed" by the
hallucinations, others find it a "pleasant distraction," she said.
SOURCE: Neurology 2000;55:454-455.
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