music/brain reaction

[Guest guest]

Hi Everyone

I saw this on a news program and it caught my attention and I

immediately thought of all of you (us). If the sound of music (only a

particular kind and not necessarily at a high volume) can induce

seizures, then maybe 4S is some sort of offshoot or variation of this

disorder. Hopefully none of us are experiencing such a severe symptom

but I know that my body can suddenly go into a different state when I

hear my offending sounds. I'm sure that these physical changes are

measurable, ie blood pressure, respiration, etc.

Anyway, I wanted to share this with you and I'd love to hear thoughts.

Best regards,

Elaine

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A Musical Link To Epilepsy

Jan. 18, 2008

(CBS/AP) In 2006 's " Temperature " was hot, rising to the top

of the Billboard charts. But the pop song had a much more chilling

effect on 25-year-old Stacey Gayle.

Gayle, a customer service employee at a bank in Alberta, Canada, was

suffering as many as 10 grand mal seizures a day, despite being

treated with medications designed to control them. The condition

became so bad she eventually had to quit her job and leave the church

choir where she sang.

Appearing on CBS' The Early Show, Gayle told co-anchor Harry

that she was 21 when she first started having seizures, but it was in

the summer of 2006 when she began to suspect a possible trigger.

She recalled, 18 months ago, being at a barbecue and collapsing when

the Jamaican rapper 's music started playing, and then

remembered having a previous seizure when she had heard his music. " I

would get that aura before that song would come on, " she said.

Music wasn't the only trigger, but it was an important one.

" I was just having seizures, just found it was triggered by music, "

she said.

It was first, and then others.

At first, doctors didn't believe a rap song could induce an attack,

so Gayle proved it. At the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at Long

Island Jewish Medical Center, had a video EEG - a medical test

measuring electrical activity produced by the brain. The video showed

Stacey Gayle having three seizures shortly after listening to the

song on her iPod.

" Sometimes it's very challenging to find that abnormal area of the

brain that may be causing someone's epilepsy, " Dr. Ashesh Mehta, the

hospital's director of epilepsy surgery, told . " Given that she

had such a specific trigger, we were able to play the music and do a

PET scan. That gave us an idea of where the seizures may be coming

from.

" Ultimately we have to implant electrodes to find the area, [and

then] we played the music. "

Doctors determined the cause of Gayle's seizures was an extremely

rare condition called musicogenic epilepsy, in which seizures are

actually induced by music.

According to the hospital, there are only five such cases known

worldwide.

During the first surgery, doctors implanted more than 100 electrodes

in the right side of her brain to pinpoint the abnormal area of her

brain.

The surgeons followed that procedure with a second surgery to remove

the electrodes, along with parts of her brain suspected of causing

the seizures.

" Did you really think this is one of those 'Eureka!' moments? "

asked.

" Absolutely, " Mehta said. " It's fairly common in a lot of people who

have epilepsy. That area happened to be triggered by the music, and

we took it out, and she's done wonderfully.

Gayle reports that she is now seizure-free after three and a half

months.

" I want to show others that life does not end at epilepsy, " she said.