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Researchers Map Brain Areas That Process Tunes
LeBain writes "From Science Daily: 'Researchers at Dartmouth are getting closer to understanding how some melodies have a tendency to stick in your head or why hearing a particular song can bring back a high school dance. They have found and mapped the area in your brain that processes and tracks music.' Don't tell the RIAA!"
Now I'm going to get charged every time a song pops in my head?!
Seriously though this is pretty cool. Maybe they can now engineer a christmas song that won't get stuck in your head.
Nobodies Prefect
Tidbits for Techs Technology Blog
We can have your equipment compliant with this simple, and nearly painless, compulsory surgical procedure!
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
Now they can develop a pill to get rid of "It's a small world after all" when it pops into your head.
Already been done:
Meow meow meow meow, Meow meow meow meow....
Good judgment comes from experience.
Experience comes from bad judgment.
Watch me restrain myself. ...
Still watching?
Keep your packets off my GNU/Girlfriend!
I wish I could remember the name of the story and the author - back in the '60s I read a short SF story about a scientist who developed a computer program that analyzed popular songs and advertizing jingles to determine what made a song stick in the brain. The computer used those elements to create the Perfect Song and play it back. The morning after the program is run, the scientist is found in a cataleptic state. I think they had to send in someone who was tone deaf to turn off the music (I don't remember why they didn't just pull the plug).
No sig? Sigh...
The idea is also used similarly in "The Truth Machine", a lesser known more recent novel about a boy genius who perfects the lie detector. Of course, he kills somebody in the process, otherwise there would be no plot :). So he memorizes that "O Captain my captain" poem and uses it as a trigger in the device to let him slip by when the machine is pointed at him.
www.HearMySoulSpeak.com
I remember this one. If I recall correctly, it was one of Asimov's Azazel short stories.
Good judgment comes from experience.
Experience comes from bad judgment.
Brain surgery is often performed with the patient conscious. A neurosurgeon once mentioned to Sacks that during a surgery he had found an area that when stimulated caused the patient to hear a certain rock song quite vividly. Sacks (who studies memory) was excited by this. He thought of all sorts of experiments that could be done to find out more about musical memory, like having the patient compare the "remembered" song to the actual recording.
Sacks asked the neurosurgeon if he had explored this any further, and the surgeon said, "No. I hate rock music." Sacks asked if the patient would be returning for any followup procedures.
"Yes, but I can't do any more experiments on that area. It was excised during the procedure."
Sacks, disappointed: "Oh, it was too close to the tumor?"
"No, I told you. I hate rock music."
Does this mean that we are closer to developing a drug/surgical procedure that will eliminate a person's affinity for Britney's/Christina's/Boy Band of the Month's "music"?
Illegitimi non Carborundum.
Working at a craphole department store, am I at risk of brain damage? There's two main factors at play here:
A) Constant loud white noise from a powerful aircon vent right above my desk.
B) The following combined:
And assorted other dross, mostly christmas themed. Admittedly there are some decent songls played. But they're soon not decent when looping every hour, every day.
Help... me...... please.....
Ph33r m3!!!
...does this mean that advertisers are going to be able to make even more annoying jingles?
We are not any closer to a cure for stupidity.
?-|||-----x<*))))><
Ah, thanks, now I remember. I think I was just reading a lot of old sci-fi short stories by the Greats around that time....
Good judgment comes from experience.
Experience comes from bad judgment.