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THEFOUNDATIONFORHUMANPOTE~
�,
DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY
COMMmEE ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Prof Mihaly Csikszcntmihalyi
5848 SOUTH UNIVERSITY AVENUE
CHICAGO -ILLINOIS 60637
(312) 'l'02-912s
FAX: (312)
~
February 11, 1997
Re: The Foundation for Human Potential
I have been aware for several years now of the activities that Andrea
Gel~iri Shindler and the Foundation she directs have been sponsoring. The
T.
.
,
~ymposia po' Art a1J,d the Brain, Music and the Brain and Sports, EJance
and ,the Brain were path-breaking events, where interdisciplinary scholarly'
discourse at the highest level took place in front of an attentive general
public.' These and similar events have confinned that the Foundation for
Human Potential has become a highly visible and effective venue for
communicating the often obscure findings of human neurophysiology and
neuropsychology to a lay audience, and to explore their implications for
edl,lcation.
The next project oil Andrea Shindler's agenda is a symposium on
"emotional intelligence". Needless to say, this topic is very popular at the
moment, yet there has been little critical discussion of the issues involved.
For this reason, such a symposium should be very useful and timely. It
would be an excellent sequel to the past event organized by the Foundation,
and it would definitely establish its mediating role in the intellectual life of
Chicago, and indeed the nation.
Sincerely,
Mihaly Cs' 8zentmihalyi
Professor 'ofHuman Development
�Yo- Yo E. Mo
Statement by Yo-Yo Ma for the Foundation for Human Potential:
I have always been fascinated by the connection between the creative process and
related neurological patterns which occur in human beings. Ultimately, underlying this
fascination with the workings of the individual artist is a desire to understand why every
society has had a need to produce art in one form or another, and how the production of
that art form effects the human thought process.
I
As we make advances in neurological research and gain substantial scientific data on the
relationship between thebrain's relationship to artistic output, we will perhaps be one
step closer to understanding some basic elements common to all mankind.
The Foundation for Human Potential supports studies of human creativity and the brain,
and hosts symposia which allow further exploration of related topics. This year's
symposium, entitled Sports, Dance, Movement, and the Brain, will provide the rare
opportunity for scientists, artists, and educators to corne together to explore common
. lements like time, space, motion, structure, and variety-- elements which are found in
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every discipline. The seeds of information exchanged at this kind of symposium will
undoubtedly take root in new studies of the human brain and the arts, and reveal new
approaches and perspectives on how human beings learn, function, and relate to one
another.
.
; ...
I wish the Foundation for Human Potential f1very success in this·worthwhileendeayor.
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GRADUATE SOlOOL OF EDUCATION
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To Whom ic Kq Ccmcma:
I am pl.....d to cdone the t'Iq'CI.I.t for mndinr Cor the ongoing activities of
the J'CJlUaUtiOD fbr Human Potential. inc1ud.iDc "Spozta, D8Jl~, Movemellt
and tm. B'ftdD.: A Symp;teium.. pJ8JlDed. fbr April 199G. I attended -Art aDd
tho Bm.fn: A SyIlDpOliWlllll1ci Art Exhtbit- ill 1988 &D.cl consider it to be
&moDI tJM JDCIIt importu.t aDd memorable meeti:Dp that I have atteD.dec:L
Anc:Ii ShiDdler, the BDctr.ti'Ye Director and Founcior of the Foundation for
Bv.tDaA PO.Dti.1, broaPt topther a.a. incomparable ~up of r. . .rchen
&om mamy diad• . , the educated pablic, and a remarkable lit of a.rtista
who haft COD.ti.DWICI. to pzociuca despite various kiDde of impainIumtll. Both
tIut toRe the pl!)CMdjnp aDd the ditcal8ioDS and intA!rcb.a.aau that took
.place 1bD0'tItag the p&pIl'II W'eNm:;:rlary. It is no eugpra.t:ioD to sa,. that
thotM ill ....daDCI han 1Ma
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tbat I have had.
1llAD1 oppartunItiM. to 1"M'"aiv ill contact, aDd to build a.pou. the ralationa
forpd. at the ....... with ar:tiIt.II U .. .n as with l'IM81'CherB. My
dJHallliou with ~ aDd puticipantl in "M1UIi.c and the Bra.i.rc A
~.. ilL NO'f'DIMr 1992 codrm. that the latter Sympolium had a
~ impact OIl ita
~,man,. of those who atteD.dad.
-Art aDd. the BraiD- 1'IJt1mled for "KUBic &Dd. th. Brain-, expreuing p'eat
iD.t:8n18t ilL t\'atun .,iiipoUa apJoriDg the relatioDSbip between braic
ftmct.ioll . . oth.- .bill_.
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In ~ a .)mposium OD JllDvemmt and the &raiD, M.s. Shindler
tIJiDtI OIl Ul iwportut De.... chde.. WhiJa there have baeD. • number of
IYDlPO•• OIl ut &IIIl "IlImc held ill the braiA aud behavioral. scieuCl'. there
haTe to ~ ~ bea . " if an,- comparable und.ert.akinp iD the area
or danOl,90"" IIIbl otIwr cLmwin• iDvolYirac the skilled UN of the bod,..
Mil. S1rin&r . . t..l in contact with maay of tba molt im.port.aut
nl. ~ in. t.bi8 ...... well .. appropriate !p.rea from the worlds of
c1auI ... ..",.,.. ThillIJ'DpoIrinm promi... to be a particularly
impor~ . . lIIcb:I,tjnl oae. which shoalcl JIl'Ove of P'f:I8t moment fot' the
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�THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA
DATE: November 8, 1995
RE:
The Foundation for Human Potential
The Foundation for Human Potential has 'undertaken an ambitious
program of dissemination of "integrated knowledge in the fields of the
sciences and the humanities. The Foundation's director, Andrea
Gellin Shindler i8 to be credited with organizing several symposia in
which experts from neurology, psychology, education, music, dance and
the arts, and sports, came together in an effort to interrelate and
make their activities more clearly understood to the lay public.
Without a doubt, the Foundation's efforts have touched many
individuals in the Chicago area and elsewhere. I personally look
forward to see it continue its activities especially if they will be
focused on a badly needed educational e~fort in schools.
The Foundation for Human Potential deserves our attention,
appreciation, and support.
Sincerely,
.~.\"L.,~
Antonio R. Damasio, MD, PhD
M.W. Van Allen Professor and Head
Department of Neurology
AIm/nap
College or Medicine
Department of Neurology
200 Hawkins Dr. 2155 Rep
'Iowa City, Iowa 52242· ! 053
310/356·4200
FAX 3 I 0/353,6277
�I
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.~bt l1nibtr_itp of Cbicago
DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY
COMM!TTEE ON BIOPSYCHOLOGY
5848 SOtrrH UNIVERSITY AVENlIE
CHICAGO' D.LINOIS 606J7
(ll2) 10:2-a8S9 .
FAX: (lIZ) 702~
Di.x:embcr 8. 1994
AIIdrea Shi.ndla
T'be Foundatioo for Human Potential
32AO N. Lakabore Drive. #9B
Cbicaao. IL 60657
OearADdi:
I am deeply hooored to serve as a member of the Board of Trustees of The Foundatiorifor Human Potential.
Although C.P. Snow saw two cullUrcS and no way to weave their threads into a single tapestry. your vision
and your accomplishments in bringing together the world of science with that of the larger culture are doing
just that. In my view.it is not only the realization of human potential that depends on the continuation of
this process. but our survival as a species.
The conditions of natural life for other animals reflect their common understandings. by instinct or by
learning. and the behaviors these govern. But the human world has become one in which the conditions of
oW' daily lives are powerfully detenn.ined by mysteries of science that nearly none of us understands and in
which scientific consciousness attends mainly to itself. The danger of public ignorance and scientific
arrogance is especially critical in this era as human brains are beginning to decipher their own workings. In
my own fidd of human neuropsychology. I have witnessed the selling of pseudoscience in popular books,
weekend COUI'ICI, the popular media. and in the school systems.
Tbc confercoccs on Art &ad tbe BraiD and Music aDd tbe Brain are the only ones that I have ever
attended in which artilts and saentis... teachers and srudents. physiCians and patients. and the general public
seriously listeacd to each other. taoaht eacb other. and learned from each other. This kind of intercbange. in
which different scientis.. cballeniC each other before a listening and learning audience and in which other
scbol.ars. educators. artists, and the public contribute their perspectives. is a brilliant beginning, Much more
is needed. I believe dlat The Foundation for Human Potential bas a major role to play in weaving together
Soow's two cultures. You and the FountlaJion have moved us forward toward this unification.
Warm n:gards,
f..J/v~
lerre Levy, Ph.D.
Professor
�THEFOUNDATIONFORHUMANPOTE~
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.FROM THE
.1994
MEDICAL
AND
HEALTH·ANNUAL
EncycloPledia Britannica, Inc.
. CHICAGO
AUCKLAND· LONOON •MADRlD· MANILA ~ PARIS· ROME· SEOUL ~ SYDNEY· TOKYO· TORONTO
Copyrisbt C1993
�Special Report
Music and the Mind: Scientific Musings
by Gail McBride
Can the eye of science feel the true character of music, and
its unique power to animate the person?
-Oliver Sacks, Awakenings
Among the many questions posed at the confer
ence were: What is the basis of musical creativity?
Why does music pervade all cultures? Can brain areas
involved in musical ability be localized? How can the
genius of a Mozart be explained? What makes the
musical savant so exceptional? Why do people vary
in their perceptions of music? What is the role of
the auditory system in music? How are music and
language related? And what has been leamed from
studying well-known musicians with known or sus
pected neurological deficits? The following provides a
glimpse of some of the recent insights into this broad
and fascinating field of study.
As neurologist and author Oliver Sacks observed, lis
tening, playing, singing, or just moving to music often
has dramatic effects on patients with profound neu
rological impairments, such as stroke or Parkinson's
disease.Uke Sacks, many neurologists, psycholo
gists, musicologists, and others for years have been
fascinated by music's role in human behavior and its
effects on the functioning of the brain and nervous sys
tem. Equally compelling are the brain processes that
are involved in producing and responding to music.
The scope of this interest has ranged from pon
The nature of creativity
derings on the creative impulse to intensive scientific
One of the topics addressed at the Chicago confer
study, such as using the highly sophisticated imaging
technique of positron emission tomograPhy (PET) to
whether musical creativity is unique and
ence
record the metabolic activity of the brain while it is en
indeper:tdent of. other mental processes or whether
.gaged in a musical task. Yet despite many intriguing
"Creativity in music and in other disciplines is.the prod
observations and clear evidence that music therapy ,
uct of common mental processes. In the book Frames
can be effective in rehabilitating some neurologically
of Mind: The Theoty of Multiple Intelligences (1983),
impaired patients, because of the brain's' aweSome
the Harvard University psychologist Howard Gardner
made a case for the former view, proposing that there
complexity, very little is known with certainty. In fact,
some things that were once accepted-for example,
are multiple and distinct types of intelligence, sudl as
visual, verbal, and musical.
that the. "music center" of the brain is located in the
right hemisphere-no longer are. As one leading sci
Among those who have explored the latter possibll- .
entist in the field put. it, investigators are only begin
ity Is Robert S. Root-Bernstein, professor of physiol
ogy at Michigan State University. S~ifically, he has
ning to "tame" the "wildemess of [their) Ignorance."
Recent developments in the. neurosciences .have . looked at scientists (Including mathematicians) who
led to wide-ranging neuroanatomic iesearch and ex
have been musicians (or other kinds of artists) as well,
ploration of the brain's organization and mental pnr . often of high caliber. Indeed, many scientists. (past
cessing as they relate to music. As a testament to this
and present) have been or are virtuoso .pertoimers,
work, in November 1992 a symposium, -Music and
and some have even designed and made musical
the Brain," was held in Chicago. The conferef1C& was
instruments as weU as composed. Albert Schweitzer,.
organized and directed by Andrea Gellin Shindler,
A1eksandr Borodin, and the contemporary scientists
founder and executive director of the newly estab
Solomon Snyder and Stephen Jay Gould are just a
lished Foundation for Human Potential of Chicago,
few examples of scientist-musicians.
with assistance from the Chicago Symphony Orches
Although music and science are seemingly dis
tra and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and
parate fields, Root-Bernstein has concluded that com
funding from, among others, the National Institute of
mon mental processes underlie the creative activities
Mental Health and the National Institute on Aging. The
in each. In his words, the ·coincidence of abilities" is
not "by chance." By studying the mental processes
symposium brought together neurologists, psychia
involved In the scientific and musical endeavors of
trists and psychologists, musicians, music therapists,
educators, cultural anthropologists, .and others for
these "doubly gifted IndMduals," Root-Bemstein has
thrae days of lectures and discussions. The spectrum
found that they rely on precise "tools of thinking"- '
analogizing, pattem forming, abstracting, and kines
of topics covered was as diverse as the backgroUnds
thetic thinking, among others. The main talent of
of the participants."
was'
399
�creative people, he believes, is the ability to transfer
between modes of thinking and to make connections
between insights and ideas--be they of a Scientific,
musical, or other nature.
Music and neuroanatomy
Because of the many associations that have been
observed between music and specific anatomic struc
tures in the brain, the belief persists that certain brain
areas must be more involved with music than oth
ers. Many scientists have attempted to identify such
potential brain centers by studying people with brain
dysfunction or damage.
In a type of epilepsy called musicogenic epilepsy,
susceptible people may have seizures' upon hearing
specific passages or types of music-for example. a
portion of the second movement of Beethoven's Fifth
Symphony or salsa music. The abnormal electrical ac
tivity associated with this type of seizure (seen on an
electroencephalogram. or EEG) is usually in the right
or left temporal lobe of the brain, the portion generally
associated with acoustic (auditory) sensations.
In contrast. patients who have what are called mu
sical partial seizures spontaneously "hearD (i.e.,' hallu
cinate) sounds in their minds. Those sounds can be
music, speech. or noises (such as whhTs, clicks. or
Single tones). Such hallucinations produce EEG activ
ity that is also focused in the temporal'lobe but more
:
often in the brain's left hemisphere.
The Montreal surgeon WIlder PenfteId triggered hal
lucinatory seizures in 20 patients during neurosurgery
by stimulating certain areas of the Cortex (the brain's
outer layer). One 'patient could -heat.! a male choruS
and orchestra perfonning -White Christmas-; another'
"heard" a jingle from a radio commercial. OCher pa
tients heard· words rather thai1 music, but Penfietd '
found there was no apparent separation between brain
areas that precipitate hallucinated words or music.
Other scientists have found that some elderly persons ,
who are becoming deaf may' have so-called release
hallucinations; i.e;, they "hear"ll1LIlIic;oft8n from their
distant past. The mechanism is Unclear but does not'
appear to be epileptic.
Another way to relata music to certain brain areas
has been to study persons whose brains have been
injured or impaired through illness or who have under
gone brain surgery. SomeUmes these people lose cer
tain musical abiuttes that they had previously (known
as amusia). The location of the injury or disorder offar8
clues to the specific brain area that was the presumed ,
source of that lost muSical ability.
Some people with damage to the brain have apha
sia-a language disturbance that often inVolves the
inability to speak or' write-,-but no amusia. That is;
they can no longer speak, but they can "sing" words
and/or compose music. Commonly these peopie have
damage to the left hemisphere, which. in most right-
400
handed people. is the brain's language center. One
example is a composer who suffered a severe apha
sia-could neither comprehend what was said to him
nor read nor write-but he was still able to compose
quite well and, despite his aphasia, wrote songs, quar
tets, choruses, and a symphony.
Another group of patients that have been studied- .
the largest group-tlave both aphasia and amusia. A
well-known composer, Maurice Ravel (discussed be
low), is an example. A third group have amusia with
out aphasia, a condition that is probably not widely
diagnosed because language skills remain intact and
victims do not seek treatment. These patients may
have nonnal language function and may be able to
recognize a melody, but they cannot sing or whistle.
Most have beer'I found to have lesions in the brain's
right hemisphere; thus, investigators believe that the
right side of the brain may affect musical pitch more
than rhythm. On the other hand, some patients with
lesions in the left hemisphere have problems reading
or writing music.
Individual patiehts, however, present almost endless
variations within each of these three groups. Thus, at
least for the present, finn conclusions about s~+..
locations of unique musical skills cannot be drawn.·'~'~;;::,:
Music and language
Th8defects of aphasia and amusia highlight the rela
; tionst'iip between music and language.: One investiga
tor of this relationship is John C.M. Brust. professor
of neurology at Columbia University College of Physi
cians and Surgeons, New York City. Brust points
out that there are wen-recognized musical aspeCts
of everyday speech-rhythm, pitch. and inflection,
known collectively as prosody-and that prosody can
be inbinSlc (the sound of speech-e.g., whether it
sOunds German or French), emotional, or proposi
,
tional (conveying meaning). .
A· type of· music therapy based on prosody has
helped some patients who have aphasia without amu
sia. Over two centuries ago it was observed that. a
young man rendered speechless after 8 major blow
to the head was still able to sing in a church choir.
This Intriguing preserved abiUty., in spite of a severe
aphasia. prompted therapists to investigate the poten
tial of music therapy for aphasia
About 20 years ago Nancy Helm-Estabrooks. a
speech pathologist at Boston University School of
Medicine. and colleagues Robert Sparks and Martin
Albert developed the technique called melodic in
tonation therapy. As Helm-Estabrooks described the
therapy at the Chicago symposium, 8 patient first is
instructed to sing short phrases and sentences as
simple sing-song melodies containing only high and
low tones---the pitch pattern resembling as closely
as . possible, how the phrase or sentence would be
spoken. Next, the phrase or sentence is sung with an
�,
exaggerated stress pattern in more' of a monotone,
much like choral speaking. Gradually the melodic
content is faded, and the patient ·speaks" rather than
sings the phrase or sentence; finally,' he or she re
sponds to questions by using normal speech.
Melodic intonation therapy is used to draw out lan
guage function, presumably from the right hemisphere.
It is particularly useful for restoring acceptable speech
in patients with left hemisphere strokes that impair.
articulatory agility but spare auditory comprehension.
. Her discovery came about when she used a dichotic
listening situation in which subjects were presented
simultaneously with Single altemating notes an octave
apart-the lower note first in the left ear and the
higher note first in the right ear. Subjects, however,
reported always hearing the high note only in the right
ear, alternating with a Iqw note only in the left earthe Deutsch illusion. Later, however,. another investi
. gator showed that although most non musicians report
the illusion. most musicians do not. suggesting per
haps that musical experience can change the brains
Perception of music:
of musicians.
In addition to studying patients with brain dysfunction,
Deutsch and her colleagues have extended their
such as epilepsy or brain injuries, there· are newer
analyses to more complex situations. They have found.
ways of investigating the relationship between music
for example. that the perception of certain pattet:ns of
and the brain. One such technique is called dichotic
tones-whether melodies are perceived as ascend
ing or' descending-not only varies among subjects
listening. In these investigations earphones are used
to feed different messages, tones. or music into a
but also is dIStinctly affected by shifts in key, a phe
person's two ears simuttaneously. If the left hemi
nomenon that no one had expected and that remains
sphere is dominant. the person Will primarily describe
unexplained.
what was fed into the right ear. and vice versa. The
In the past few years, many neuroscientists, using
technique is controversial, however. because it is not
the newer imaging techniques of PET and magnetic
difficult for the tester to unwittingly increase one ears
resonance imaging (MRI). haVe begun taking a new
advantage over the other-for example, by decreasing
look at the brains of people involved. in musical tasks
the duration of noise fed into one ear or manipulat
and are questioning some of the older views. These
ing the acoustic features of the sounds. Furthermore.
studies, proceeding from the premise that music is
what may appear to be differences and asymmetries
a unique human attrIbute-a type of communication
between the two cerebral hemispheres canref\ec:t
system distinct from but possibly on a par with verbal
internal auditory pathway delays or other kinds' of in-IkIlJs-inay shed iniportant new light on cerebral toformation loss that atreet what is heard. Hence, results'
pography and a great deal else.
.
of such studies have varied greatly depending on hoW
the technique is setup; the subject's age, aptitude.
Ravel's muic:aJ braiD
and training; and whether recognition of melody, pure
The inspiration for a very intriguing recent study con- •
tones, timbre, pitch, or rhythm is used as the'criterion.
ducted by neuroscientists at MeGUI University. Mon
Differences also occur depending' on whether only a
treaJ. was the French composer Maurice RaVel. Ravel
basic tone or tt:te basic tone plus its.overtones (tones
developed a degenerative brain disease in 1929. and
whose frequencies are multiples of the frequency of
his final years of life· were clouded by a mild type
the basic tone) is played.
of aphasia and to some extent by amusia; he died
Nonetheless, some usefullnformaIion has emerged'
in 1937 at age 62; His aphasia 'led to· difficulty in
finding the correct words to express himself (although
from dichotic listening studies; For inatance; as neuro-.
psychologist John J. Sidtia at the UnMnity ,of Mirf..'
he could usually make himself understood, and he
nesota has found. complex pitch peR:eption (timbre,.
·was stili able to comprehend language satisfactorily).
involving overtones) appears to b88 rtghl-h8mispher. Soon after the disease's onset, he became unable
ability, whereas basic speech percepllo.f is focused,· .to read or write words but, for a time, he was able
. in the brain's left hemisphere. Others have suggested. . to commit his compositions to paper. although words .
that the right hemisphere is especially concerned
on his scores (to indicate dynamics and tempo) were
with emotional aspects of music, ~as the left
poorly written and often misspelled.
Part of the tragedy of Ravel's illness was that 81
hemisphere is more concerned with ai1aIytic aspects.
Reflecting on the evidence for cerebral localization of
though he coUld still listen to and enjoy music, play
scales on the piano as before, and perceive pitch,
musical processing at the symposium, Brust quipped.
"I probably listen to Tchaikovsky with. my right hem!
rhythm, tempo, and pace. as well as detect any errors
sphere, Haydn with my left. and rock with my brain'
made· when his' own compositions were played. he
stem,"
, could not read a score and then play or Sing it himself.
Diana Deutsch, professor of psychology at' the. In the end. thoUgh he could still compose melodies
University of California at San Diego, has. been a
and harmonies in his mind, he could not write them'
pioneer of music-perception studies and is th8, dis-. down or play them.
coverer of what is now dubbed the "DeUtsch illusion.".
At the Chicago symposium Justine Sergent. director . .
401
�The Grange< Collection, New YorI<
..
The Frr!nch COmposer Maurice
Ravel-in his prime in 1912-plays
his SCOff! for the ballet Oaphnis
, and Chloe with Russian dancer
Nijinsky (seated on his right). Later
Ravel developed a degenerative
brain disease that left him unable
to play the piano, ff!ad a musical
score, or write down nuisic and also
affected his ability to express himself
With words. Although much about
the composer's illness ff!mQUu a
mystery, il raises inlriguing questions
about the functional organization
of musical functions in the brain
panicularly whether musical and
verbal abililies derive from the same
cerebral structures.
i~I'
j''- 11 'r
of the cognitive neuroscience laboratory at the Mon
with their corresponding sounds--a facility that Ravel
lost. These areas are next to but separate from those
treal Neurological Institute and associate professor of
neurology and neurosurgery at McGill, reported on
involved in the linking of visual and auditory represen
the results of brain-imaging studies of 10 highly skilled
tations of words.
The results also indicated an important role in the
right-handed pianists made while they were sight
three-part task for the sUperior parietal lobule, which •.
reading and listening to themselves play an unfamiliar
normally is not activated when subjects play notes
piece of music with the right hand on a keyboar:d.
.It was the musical abilities that Ravel lost that Ser-. -_'.they are reacfu,g. The researchers believe this por
gent and her colleagues were attempting to assess.
tion Of the brain may. underlie translation of what the.
They wanted to know what brain areas are involved
eyes see (e.g.. a score) to what the fingers play, In
other words, that brain region accommodates the pro
in the translation of musical notation or ideas into pat
terns' of sounds. They knew musicianS rely primarily
Cessing of spatIaJ information from the' score .into the
brain's motor cortex and then into a motor "program
on spatial information-:--the notes' position relative to
one another on a staff-.-in order to read and play.
that directs th8 patterning" timing, and positioning of
fingers. on the keyboard.
While the 10 subjects were performing their task,
PET scans were made of their cerebral blood flow
Sergent and colleagues were surprised by their re
(an indication of brain adivity) over the span of one
sults, although Sergent herself has always maintained
minute. PET scans of brain areas activated during··
that the brain works as a whole: There is much more,
of course, to learn about the complex neuroanatomic
performance of more familiar, "control· tasks (such.
aspects .of. music making. As Sergent wrote in Sci
as playing scales) were also made_ Using a sophisti
ence in 1992, the acts of ·sight-readlng and playing
cated computer processing method, the researchers
were able to ·subtract" the latter images from. the
are only a fraction of musical experience, and we are
stili far from understanding the pleasure and emotions
former and then superimpose the.- -remaining- PET
elicited by music, as well as the composer's mind,
scans over an. MRI scan of each musician's brain.
This enabled them to see what brain structures were
Emotion in music: .
specifically activated during the experimental task.
What they found was that the sight-reading/playing/
In fad, other studies done in Sergent's laboratory bear
on the emotional side of music and indicate that p0s
listening task recruited a neural network involving all
four of the brain's main lobes (frontal, parietal, occip
sibly a component of the brain's limbic system may
ital. and temporal) in both hemispheres as well as
be activated when a musician listens to music or plays
from memory, Other research suggests strongly that
the cerebellum, which is. concemed with movement.
the limbic system-comprising a number of strudures
Sight-reading and listening, without playing, specifi
located deep in the brain, including the amygdala and
cally activated certain brain areas,' such as the inferior
hippocampus--is active in emotion. In the last several
parietal lobules of both hemispheres, leading the re
searchers to believe that these areas play a key role
years, it has become evident that emotions are gen
in the ability to connect notes on, a music8Jscore
erated by the amygdala, whereas the hippocampus is
402
�•
crucial for forming memories of life events and stor
ing them in the brain. Neurologist Elliott Ross at the
University of North Dakota School of Medicine, Fargo,
beli~es, on t~e basis of recent studies. that the right
hemisphere's limbic system is the source of primary
emotional content in the performance of music.
Among other relevant studies of the brain· using
PET scans were those done some years ago by re
searchers John C. Mazziota and colleagues at the
University of Califomia at Los Angeles, involving both
musicians and non musicians listening to music. In this
case glucose metabolism (another indicator of brain
activity) rather than cerebral blood flow was measured.
On hearing music, the musically unsophisticated sub
jects-who said they tended .to just enjoy listening to
music or to Msing along" with it-showed more actMty
in the right side of their brains, whereas the musj..·
cians-some of whom said they ·visualized the· notes
they heard on a sean; or in other ways-showed
greater actMty in the left hemisphere. According to
Ross, this seems reasonable because. the written
notes, chords, and scales that musicians work with
are a form of -language" that symbolically represents
mUSiC, and symbolic aspects of language processing
are ordinarily handled best by the left hemisphere,
whereas the nonverbal affective aspects of language
are handled by the right hemisphere.
How do musicians play?
How the neuromuscular system controls musical per
formance and the development of musical skUl is
another fascinating focus of study. A number of re
searchers are now studying the role of the basa/
ganglia deep in the brain with respect to the playing
of music and that of the cerebellum In the timing
of skilled movements. ."The experience of learning
music involves, for the nervous system, transforming
this eager enthusiastic chorus of somewhat clumsy
actMty into something more coordinated.· neurologist
Frank R. Wilson of the University of cautorniaat San
Francisco told the symposium audience. "But what
actually happens in the brain? We dOn't yalknow.
In one study, Wilson statistically analyzed four dif- .
farent performances bya pianist who was connected
to a computer that measured motor activity while he
was playing the fourth movement of Chopin's Sonata
in 8 Minor, a piece. with riumerous right-hand de
scending runs. The performances were almost iden
tical. Moreover, there was great similarity between
the performances of this pianist and those of another
playing the same piece. Wilson theorizes that for. the
musician practice converts playing into an autQmatic.
and unconscious activity.
Music: a language ror savants
So,.called musical savants are people who generally
are mentally retarded but show unusual musical skill.
These individuals are most often male; they often
have congenital blindness or very poor vision; and
most have language delay and difficulty in verbal
communiCation.
.
A complement to the lectures at the Chicago sym
posium was a special performance by Tony DeBlois,
who at age 18 is blind, mentally retarded, and pos
sibly autistic and is an accomplished pianist. In 1.991
DeBlois received the Itzhak Perlman Award from Very
Special Arts of the John F. Kennedy Center for the
Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. At the conterence
he played .both classical music and jazz (his favorite).
ToilY was a premature child· with a host of phys
.ical problems. Oxygen therapy at birth for treatment
'61 neonatal jaundice led to destruction of his retinaS·
and thus blindness. When he was three years old,
his mother noticed that he responded particularly to
sounds in his environment. By the time he was of
preschool age, he clearly had language difficulties and
attention and motor-coordination problems, but these
were accompanied by obvious musical cibilities. His
mother encouraged his musical abilities from an early
age, and his involvement in music, despite his severe
retardation,seems to have fostered some develop
ment of his verba/ and social skills. Currently Tony is a
special student at Boston's Berklee School of Music.
LBon Miller. associate professor of psychology at
the University of Illinois at Chicago, has studied musi
cal savants and is the author of the book MusicsJ Sa
''Averoged'' bl'Ylinimages of 10
professio1Uli pianists sight-reading
and pl4ying a. Bach partita show
the localized activation of cerebl'Yli
structures for comPonent operations .
of the sight-reading task. .Lower bright
areas rrifle!:t the bl'Ylin:s involvement
duririg reading of the score and
trtmslation of the notes into finger
patterns; uppemwst bright areas
.intUcate activation of the frontal cortex,
responsible for the OTganiuJtion of the
motor movements of pl4ying.
From Justine SerQent, M.D., et aI.. "D'stributed Neural Network Undertying Musical Sight Reading and Keyboard
Performance.' Sc/flf\Ce Magazine, YOI. '2!57, July 3, 1992, pp. 106-109. Copyright 1992 by the AAfJ.S
�I
Mamie CrawtOfd Samuelson
Practicing with a member of hisjazz
ensemble group, Tony DeBwis plays
up a storm at the piano. Tony is blind
and mentally retarded but at a very
young age demonstrated rftmarkable
musical ability. He has since become
an accomplished pianist, playing
both classical music and jazz, and
is now a student at a Boston music
school. Professionals who have studied
musical savalllS like Tony believe that
music becomes a "language" that
offers them a way of undemanding
and relating to the MlQrid.
vants: Exceptional Sldll and Mental Retardation (1989).
Current theories of brain organization hold that speMiller has found that, as in DeBlois' case, the intense
cific brain areas are dedicated to certain functions but
musical interest of savants appears very early in life.
are connected, with each other. Recent experiments
Among their many' unusual traits. he has found. is
with developing primates show that when damage oc
their remarkable "ear" for new musical material; they
curs to a specific brain area that is closely connected
can usually play a piece of music with uncommon
to another, the neural network is altered in such a way ,
mastery of melody, harmony, and tonal structure after
that',a "competing" brain area may enlarge, essentially
to fill a gap. Thus, as Ross and other neurologists,
a single hearing. They also tend to have perfect pitch.
Music ,may offer savants a method of communi-. • ·such as the late Norman Geschwind of Harvard Medi
cating with the world--one that links them to their ' • 'cal School. have speculated. normally less-prominent
families and the rest of their environment Miller points
intellectual functions could become more prominentout that both music and language rely on the audioften to an extraordinary degree. This type of func
tory system and thus have important similarities. But, tional reorganization could occur in the developing
whereas in most children the language function bebrain of a Child. giving rise to the extraordinary skills
comes predominant as they grow uP. this does not
observed in savants.
happen with savants.'
Miller suggests that there is a special relationship
Because many musical savants are blind, Miller
between music and language early in human devel·
speculates that normal visual input to the occipital
opmenl Before they can understand words, infants
lobe is lacking and. thus. cortical areas typically daduse a combined music-language system; they clearly
icated to processing this information have nothing to
derive emotional information from the -melodic line"
do; there may then be a rededication of these portions
of their parents' s~h as well as from other sounds
of the cortex to other functions. In support of this.
in their environment. Furthermore. Miller points out
Tedd Judd. a neuropsychologist at the Pacific Meetlthat. as in the case of the savant. -music can emerge
cal Center in Seattle. Wash.• says that in many cases
as a special way of understanding and relating to
savants have suffered oxygen deprivation during birth.
the world."
which would preferentially damage the cerebral areas
Although broad differences exist between the two
that are activelY developing at the time. Moreover.
cerebral hemispheres, with much of the language
many savants have a pattem of language developfunction tending to be served by the left. there are
ment that resembles the type Of aphasia known as
many links between the two hemispheres-as seen,
transcortical aphasia. in which the speech centers
for example, in the melodic intonation therapy des,eam to be isolated from ~r cortex areas where
scribed above. Increasingly, scientists are finding that
most semantic connections are made. While this may
some plasticity in the brain may be quite common.
, inhibit the development of some abilities. such as
Ross and Sergent are among those who believe that
abstract reasoning and linguistic processing, it may
the neurology undertying musical and artistic creativity
allow other functions, such as repetition skills (which
is a very complex one that involves the participation of
m~y savants possess), acoustic sensitivity. and muthe whole brain rather than just the right hemisphere,
sical memory to develop quite fully.
:
as had been so commontY assumed and accepted.
404
�Contributors to the World of Medicine
Caron Chess
Environmental Health (coauthor)"
Director, Center for Environmental Communication, Rutgers,
the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick
James t Cleeman, M.D.
Special Report Cholesterol Counts (coauthor)
Coordinator. National Cholesterol Education Program. ,Na·
tional Heart, lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of .
Health, Bethesda, Md.
Edward P. Cohen, M.D.
Special Report The Promise of Gene Therapy
Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology,
University of Illinois College of Medicine. Chicago
Miriam Cohen, Ph.D.
Special Report Mind, Mood, and Medication in Later Life
Psychologist, New York City
Elizabeth B. Connell, M.D.
Women's Health
Professor, Gynecology arid ObstetriCS, Emory University
School of Medicine. Atlanta. Ga.
Francis H.C. Crick, Ph.D.
Special Report Reflections on Solving the DNA Puzzle
Kieckhefer Distinguished Research Professor, Salk Institute
for Biological Studies, La Jolla, Calif.
Geoffrey Dean, M.D.
Multiple Sclerosis
Emeritus Director, the Medico-Social Research Board of Ire
land, Dublin
Alexander DorOzynskl
Special Report France: Fuming over a New Law?
Science Writer and Editor, Recloses, France
Adem Drawnowskl, Ph.D.
Diet and Nutrition
Professor of Community Health Programs and Director, Hu
man Nutrition Program, University of Michigan School of
Public Health, Ann Arbor
Howard Frumkin, M.D., Dr.P.H.
Occupational Health
Director and Associate Professor, Division of Environmental
and Occupational Health, Emory University School of Public '
'
Health. Atlanta, Ga.
George A. Gellert, M.D., M.P.• H'., M.P.A.
Special Report Health Care Reform in Eurasia: The Next
Revolution
State Epidemiologist and Assistant Director, Disease Pre
vention Services, Arizona Department of Health Services,
Phoenix
Ray W. Gifford, Jr., M.D.
Hypertension (coauthor)
Senior Physician, Department of Nephrology and Hyperten
, sion, and Senior Vice-Chairman, Division of Medicine. the
Cleveland CliniC Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio; Chairman.
Joint National Committee on the Detection. Evaluation, and
Treatment of High Blood Pressure
.
Leonard H. Glantz, J.D.
•
Special Report Suing Tobacco Companies: Impact of a
Landmark Case
.
Professor of Health law, Boston University School of
Medicine/School of Public Health
.
, Robert A.Goepp, D.D.S.,Ph.D.
Special Report Denta/lmplants: On the Cutting Edge
Professor, Departments of Pathology and Surgery, Univer
sity of Chicago
Philip M. Hanno, M.D.
Men's Health
Professor and Chairman, Department of Urology, Temple
University School of Medicine. Philadelphia
Donald R. Hopkins, M.D., M.P.H •
. Disease Eradication
Senior Consultant. Global 2000, Carter Center, Atlanta. Ga.
C. William Keck, M.D., M.P.H.
Special Report Health for All: A Dream Realized in Cuba
Director, Akron Health Department, Akron, Ohio; Director,
Division of Community Health Sciences, Northeastern Ohio
Universities College of Medicine, Rootstown; Past President,
American Public Health Association
Louls.A. laMarca
Phermaceuticals (coauthor)
,.Capitol t:iill Editor, F-D-C Reports: "The Pink Sheet.· and Se
'riior Editor, Weekly 'Pharmacy Reports: "The Green Sheet,'
F-D-C Reports, Inc., Chevy Chase, Md.
Joyce C. Lashof, M.D. '
Special Report Public Health in the U.S....;,Not Making the
Grade
, Dean Emerita and Professor of Public Health, University of
Califomia at Berkeley School of PubliC Health; Past Presi·
dent, American Public Health Association
Claude Lanfant, M.D.
Hypertension (coauthor); Special Report Cholesterol Counts
(coauthor)
Director, National Heart, Lung. and Blood Institute, National
Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md.
Tammy Leopold
Pharmaceuticals (coauthor)
Managing Editor, "The Blue Sheet,· F-D-C Reports, Inc.,.
Chevy Chase, Md.
Stephen Lock, M.D.
,
Special Report John Snow Gets His Monument: London's
Tribute to a Medical Pioneer
Research Associate, Section of History of 20th Century
Medicine, WeUcome Institute for the History of Medicine,
London; Editor Emeritus, British Medical Journal
Wendy K. Mariner, J.D., LL.M., M.P.H.
Health Care Law
.
Associate Professor of Health law. Boston University School
of Medicine/School of Public Health
'
405
�Gall McBride
Special Report Music and the Mind: Scientific Musings
Freelance Medical Writer and Editor, Chicago
.
Charies-Gene McD~nlel, M.S.J.
AIDS
'
Professor and Chair, Department of Journalism, Roosevelt
University, Chicago
Beverly Merz
Genetics
Editor, Harvard Women's Health Watch, Boston
Ralph W. Moss. Ph.D.
Alternative Medicine
Cochairman, Panel on Pharmacological and Biological Treat·
ments, and Member of the Ad Hoc AdviSOry Board, Office of
Alternative Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda,
Md.; Author, Cancer Therapy: The Independent Consumer's
Guide to Non-Toxic Treatment & Prevention (1992)
Thomas H. Murray, Ph.D.
Medical Ethics
Professor and Director, Center for Biomedical Ethics, Case
Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland,
Ohio; Editor, Medical Humanities Review
David B. Reuben, M.D.
Aging
Associate Professor of Medicine and Interim Director, Multi·
campus Program in Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology,
University of Califomia at Los Angeles School of Medicine
Edward J. Roccella, Ph.D.,. M.P.H.
Hypertension (coauthor)
Coordinator, National High Blood Pressure Education Pro
gram, National Heart. Lung, and Blood Institute. National
Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md,
406
Muktl H. Sanna, Ph.D.
Cancer
Adjunct Professor of Chemistry. State University of New York
at Aibany; Editor. Cancer Watch, Schenectady. N.Y.
Patricia T. Schloesser, M.D.
Child Cere
Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Uni
versity of Kansas School of Medicine. Topeka
Richard Stone
Infectious Disease
Staff Reporter. Science, Washington. D.C.
Daniel Wartenberg, Ph.D.
Environmental Health (coauthor)
Associate Professor. Department of Environmental and Com
munity Medicine, University of Medicine and Dentistry of
New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and the
Environmental and Occupational Health SCiences Institute,
Piscataway, N.J.
David G. Whltels, Ph.D.
Health Policy
Assistant Professor of Public and Environmental Affairs
(Health Policy). School of Public and Environmental Affairs,
. Indiana University at Fort Wayne
Richard E. Wokutch, Ph.D.
Special Report Work: Dying for It in Japan
Professor of Management. the R.B. Pamplin College of
Business; Virginia PolytechniC Institute and State Univer.
sity, Blacksburg
�,.
Contributors to the World of Medicine
Caron Chess
Environmental Health (coauthor)
Director. Center for Environmental Communication, Rutgers,
the State University of New Jersey. New Brunswick
James I. Cleeman, M.D.
Special Report Cholesterol Counts (coauthor)
Coordinator. National Cholesterol Education Program, Na·
tional Heart. Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of
Health. Bethesda. Md.
Leonard H. Glantz, J.D.
Special Report Suing Tobacco Companies; Impact of a
Landmark Case
Professor of Health Law. Boston University School of·
Medicine/School of Public Health
Robert A. Goepp, D.D.S., Ph.D.
Special Report Dental Implants: On the Cutting Edge
Professor. Departments of Pathology and Surgery. Univer-,
sity of Chicago
Edward P. Cohen, M.D.
Special Report The Promise of Gene Therapy
·Professor. Department of Microbiology and Immunology.
University of Illinois College of Medicine. Chicago
Philip M. Hanno, M.D.
Men's Health
Professor and Chairman, Department of Urology, Temple
·University School of Medicine, Philadelphia
Miriam Cohen, Ph.D.
Special Report Mind, Mood, and Medication in Later Life
Psychologist. New York City
Donald R. Hopkins, M.D., M.P.H.
Disease Eradication
Senior Consultant, Global 2000, Carter Center. Atlanta, Ga.
Elizabeth B. Connell, M.D.
Women's Health
, Professor. Gynecology and ObstetriCS, Emory University
School of Medicine, Atlanta, Ga.
C. William Keck, M.D., M.P.H.
Special Report Health for All: A Dream Realized in Cuba
Director, Akron Health Department. Akron. Ohio; Director.
Division of Community Health Sciences, Northeastern Ohio
Universities College of Medicine. Rootstown; Past President.
American Public Health Association
FranciS H.C. Crick, Ph.D.
, Special Report Ref/ections on Solving the DNA Puzzle
Kieckhefer Distinguished Research Professor, Salk Institute
for Biological Studies~ La Jolla, Calif.
Geoffrey Dean, M.D.
Multiple Sclerosis
Emeritus Director,. the Medico-Social Research Board of Ire
land.Oublin
~:.
Alexander Dorozynskl
Special Report France: Fuming over a NewLaw?
Science Writer and Editor. Recloses, France
Adam Drewnowskl, Ph.D.
Diet and Nutrition
Professor of Community Health Programs and Director. Hu
man Nutrition Program, University of Michigan School of
Public Health,Ann Arbor
Howard Frumkin, M.D., Dr.P.H.
Occupational Health
Director and Associate Professor, Division of Environmental
and Occupational Health, Emory University School of Public
Health. Atlanta, Ga.
George A. Gellert, M.D., M.P.H., M.P.A.
SpecIal Report Health Gare Reform in Eurasia: The Next
Revolution
State Epidemiologist and Assistant Director, Disease Pre
vention Services, Arizona Department of Health Services,
Phoenix
Ray W. Gifford, Jr., M.D.
Hypertension (coauthor)
Senior Physician. Department of Nephrology and Hyperten
sion, and Senior Vice-Chairman. Division of Medicine. the
Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland. Ohio; Cl;lairman,
Joint National Committee on the Detection. Evaluation, and
Treatment of High Blood Pressure
Louis A. laMarca
Pharmaceuticals (coauthor)
.
CapitblHiU Editor. F·D·C Reports: "The Pink Sheet, • and Se
nior Editor, Weekly Pharmacy Reports: "The Green Sheet,"
F-D·C Reports. Inc., Chevy Chase. Md.
Joyce C. Lashof, M.D.
Special Report Public Health in the U.S.-Not Making the
Grade
Dean Emerita and Professor of Public Health, University of
California at Berkeley School of Public Health; Past Presi·
dent, American Public Health AsSOCiation
Claude Lenfant, M.D.
Hypertension (coauthor); Special Report Cholesterol Counts
(coauthor)
,
Director. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. National
Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md. .
Tammy Leopold
Pharmaceuticals (coauthor)
Managing Editor, "The Blue Sheet,' F-D·C Reports,lnc.,
Chevy Chase, Md.
Stephen Lock, M.D.
.
SpecIal Report John Snow Gets His Monument: London's
Tribute to a Medical Pioneer .
Research Associate, Section of History of 20th Century
Medicine, WeUcome Institute for the History of MediCine.
London; Editor Emeritus. British Medical Journal
Wendy K. Mariner, J.D., LL.M., M.P.H.
Health Care L a w ,
'
Associate Professor of Health Law. Boston University School
of Medicine/School of Public Health
405
�Gall McBride
Specla' Report Music and the Mind: Scientific Musings
Freelance Medical Writer and Editor, Chicago
Charles-Gene McDaniel, M.S.J.
AIDS
Professor and Chair, Department of Journalism, Roosevelt
University, Chicago
Beverly Men:
Genetics
Editor, Harvard Women's Health Watch, Boston
Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D.
Alternative Medicine
Cochairman, Panel on Pharmacological and Biological Treat
ments. and Member of the Ad Hoc Advisory Board, Office of
Alternative Medicine. Nationallnstrtutes of Health, Bethesda,
Md.; Author, Cancer Therapy: The Independent Consumer'S
Guide to Non-Toxic Treatment & Prevention (1992)
Thomas H. Murray, Ph.D.
Medical Ethics
Professor and Director, Center for Biomedical Ethics. Case
Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Cleveland.
Ohio; Editor, Medical Humanities Review
David B. Reuben, M.D.
Aging
Associate Professor of Medicine and Interim Director, Multi
campus Program in Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology,
University of California at Los Angeles School of Medicine
Edward J. Roccella, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Hypertension (coauthor)
Coordinator, National High Blood Pressure Education Pro
gram, National Heart. Lung. and Blood Institute. National
Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md.
406
Muktl H. Sarma, Ph.D.
Cancer
Adjunct Professor of Chemistry, State University of New York
at Albany; Editor, Cancer Watch. Schenectady, N.V.'
Patricia T. Schloesser, M.D.
Child Care
Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Uni
versity of Kansas School of Medicine, Topeka
Richard Stone
Infectious Disease
Staff Reporter. Science, Washington. D.C.
Daniel Wartenberg, Ph.D.
Environmental Health (coauthor)
Associate Professor. Department of Environmental and Com
munity Medicine, University of Medicine and Dentistry of
New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and the
Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute,
Piscataway. N.J.
David G. Whiteis, Ph.D.
Health Policy
Assistant Professor of Public and Environmental Affairs
. (Health Policy), School of Public and Environmental Affairs,
Indiana University at Fort Wayne
.
Richard E. Wokutch, Ph.D.
Special Report Work: Dying for It in Japan
Professor of Management, the A.B. Pamplin College of
Business, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univer
sity. Blacksburg
�rhursday, November 12, 1992-··
Symposiwn to study brain,·musicalability.
By
TOM
Daily Herald starr wriler
When she was a young speech
lherapist, Andrea Gellin Shindler
worked with a young woman from
Buffalo Grove who had suffered a
massive cerebral hemorrhage that
damaged most of the left hemi
sphere of her brain.
During the course of therapy; this
woman, Carol Frankel, whose abili
ty to speak had been devastated, de
veloped an artistic ability that as
tounded Shindler. How did the brain
injury stimulate this flowering of tal
ent, Shindler wondered. What is the
connection between brain function
and creativity?
To seek answers to these ques
tions, Shindler organized a symposi
um in 1988 titled " Art and the
Brain." At her invitation, neurolo
gists, psychologists, artists and oth
ers gathered at the Art Institute of
. Chicago to deliver public lectures on
the:. most recent discoveries about
how the brain works.
The symposium aroused so much
interest that Shindler has organized.
Andrea Shindler, execUtive director of the Foundation for Human Potential, has organized a
.
another, titled "Music and the
seminar titled "Music and the Braln~" .
Dally Herald Photo/Marl< Welsh
Brain," which will be held Nov. 16-18 .
at the Rubloff Auditorium at the Art
Institute.
.the abilities that remain," Shindler Damasio, are doing groundbreaking artist did could. be tracked in the
Two dozen speakers from the Unit- said.
research at the University of Iowa,
brain, but that's not true," she said.
ed States and Canada will speak durIn this tradition, the symposium where they use magnetic resonance
"You must consider lots of other
things - motivation, what activities
iog the three.<Jay symposium, all of will include, on Nov.. 17, a ~rformc imaging and other techniques to pro
the society considers important,
lhem offering a perspective on how anc.e?y Tony DeblOIS, a. bbn~ and vide dramatic pictures of the brain
the brain funCtions while creating aU~lstlc 18-year-old man who IS, de- in action. Damasio will talk about
what kind of support is available. to
and experiencing music.
_ spite these challenges, an extremely some of their results at the "Music
the artist. One of the foundation'S
consultants, (the classical cellist)
"
' . . gifted musician. (He is enrolled at and the Brain" symposium on Nov.
Yo-Yo Ma, said that musical talent
the prestigious Berklee College oC 18.
d~~e~ I ~a,:"sth~ eff~ct ofI the
goes far beyond ability. It depends
an
e ral~ y poSlUm, crea.
Music in Boston, where he.is earning
This idea that the brain performs
the FoundatIOn for Human ;='otentlal A and B grades even though his a6ili- several parallel functions at once is on motivation,' family involvement,
becaus~ I wanted to orgamze other ty to communicate with words is se- a "hot topic" in brain research, ac- determination, stamina - lots of
symposia t~at wou~d atte.mpt to ~or- verely limited.)
cording to Dr: John Brust of Colum- other things: So you can't trace artis
relate bram functIon With variOUS'
..- .
.
,
.
tic ability entirely back to the brain,
DeblOIS will perform two pieces":" bia University in New York, who will
abilities" said Shindler who is execbut you can't separate it from the
utive di;ector at the fo~ndation and a classical selection, and Duke EII- provide im overview of research at
the beginning of the symposium on.
brain either."
lives in Chicago. "This is just a great ington's "Take the' A' Train,"
f:J
And prior to the performance, Dr. . Monday. "I think the magic word re
opportunity for people from several
Registration Cor the "Music and the
disciplines to come together and try Leon Miller of the University of IlIigarding brain functions is 'network.'
Brain" symposium begins at 1:45
We have this vast assembly of nerve
cells that operate over space and
to figure oul how the' brain plays a nois, who is the author of a book tia.m. Monday outside oC the Rubloff
role in creativity."
tied "Musical Savants," will discuss
Auditorium of the Art Institute (CoMuch knowledge about the brain the Deblois case, which he considers
time simultaneously. This type of . lumbus Drive entrance). Shindler's
comes from studying people who a striking example of· "the extent to parallel processing is a fundamental
difference between the brain and. welcommg address is at 9 a.m.. fol
have suffered brain damage from which musical ability is independent
computers."
lowed by six lectures lasting until
strokes or head injuries .. By deter- of other cognitive abilities."
Shindler organized her first sym- .4:20 p.m., with a lunch break and
two coffee breaks_
mining what part of the brain is de. At the "Art and th~ Brain" sympo- posium to learn how the brain pro
. Lectures on Tuesday and Wednes
stroyed, and then observing the defi- sium, one of the most provocative duces art, and she believes the "Mu
ciencieS"that result, scientists have talks was given by Dr. Antonio R.
sic and the Brain".symposium will· day run Crom 9 a,.m. to 4 p.m. The
managed to piece together a rather Damasio, who pointed out that our also yield valuable insights. But she cost of the symposium is $195. or $95
detailed map of brain functions.
thoughts and perceptions are the the'--" no longer believes ttiat' creativity Cor medical residents. students and
"We can learn from artists who result of several simultaneous brain
and artistic achievement can be ex- senior citizens ..
For information and a brochure.
plained by a study of brain [unction
have sustained brain damage by functions that somehow merge into a
call the Foundation for Human Po
studying, what aoilities they have ""_ coherent, unified experience.
. alone.
.;
lost, and how they have reorganized
Damasio and his wife, Hanna "I used to think that everything an_ .., tential at (312)528-2488.
�t·.
I
;:.
·'1
I
~
~\lCOII_IIF~
__.'IIIIII._"UlllmtII~"'''••••l/!:It.'P-;'''''''''''''''''''
''it._''D4_,.-.~;~~"":,;;,,,,~:
THE BOSTON GLOBE. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23. 1992
~Inmusic'
.'
:
.
I
I
iwhole brain.·
!igets involved
-------------------------
By Richard A. Knox
~'-
,::. .
','
GLOBE STAFF
s.. -------.::....:...----
. !;CHICAGO - Tony DeBlois is blind
\.
and autistic. At age 18, he has trou
:':
ble with abstract. notions like "up"
:and "d~'I1. .. He cannot even button
;~ .
his Bhirt or tie his shoes. Ai. a .
;~ ,foung eh.iId he eouJd barely relate to the.
; . world around him.
::~ But put Tony at a piano :..: especially in
:: front of an audience - and belllaunch into an
.extend~ exploration of a jazz classic like Ell~
:.. ,ington's .,-ake the A-Train" that his teacher,
~ Boston jazz pianist Paul Barringer, says is
;: "highly improvisational" and "displays an in
e understanding ofthe jazz Iangu.ap."
~, The operative word here is "language."
"Music is Tony's language,". says his
" ::mot.her. Janice DeBlois of Waltham. "It's the
•
mode we have used to
bring out the verbaJ
language. The more
mU8ic we have
pumped into him, the
more language we
have gotten out of
him."
.
Tony DeBlois ap
propriately served as
the centerpiece of •
symposium on "'mUBic:
and the brain" Jut
week at the Chicago
Art Institute spon
sored by the newly
formed Foundation
for Hwnan Potential· . .
He embodies an idea .
taking shape among
r
. .
U
scientia~·phym~
musicians, mU8ic
theraplsta and teaeb
era - that music is a
quintessentially hu- .
. man language with
powers and purpoeea
that researchers are
'llnly beginning to
. I>hl~b.
~ preoccupied is
Western culture with
~s that music ~ been relegated to the.
ptatus of a trill, a pleaslU"able but nonutilitar·
~ h~ activity, School boards clearly con
er It expendable. "Many of us in the arts
alanned that in the recent federal Educa
. n 2000 planning document. the word ar/l
not even mentioned." says Henry Fogel.
ecutive director of the Chicago Symphony
, ,.
~
~eatra.
a;
,
The 'dence is beginning Ie show, how. : .'
Bver, that music is an alternate mode of
hi.nking deeply rooted in the human charac
, embodied in its own complex brain struc
ures and with purposes that may have much
do with our cohesion as a social species,
By this line ot thinking, Ie min.imize music
to overlook whole realms of human paten
diBmisa the abilities ot cltiJdren who have
. cu1ty with yerbaJ thinking 8trategies and
. the chance to f08ter human empathy
d cooperation.
Tedd Judd, a Seattle neuropsychologist
MUSIC, Page 24
ev1.
�J''''L
In music,
whole brain
isinvolved
• MUSIC
Continued from Page 21
and amateur musician. maintains
that Western notions of mullle in the
pa.!'ttWll renturies or 80 derive from
sotiaJ atrati!leation and division of la
bor. Our notion of music. Judd Ray!!.
has been dJatorted into an individual
itotic activity in which a composer ill
!\ending a IllI!.MIIge through perf'onn
ers to p8I!I!lve lilltene".
"Why do we make music? I ven
ture to ll8.y music did !tOt emerge 80
a composer could communicate a
metl8llg1! to an audience." Judd said.
- I t is to feel the feelings with !lOme
one else. to have the experience of
empathy."
MUBic. Judd continues, "WlIl! not
PHOtO J MARI"IIll OtAWfORO SAMVllSOf'f .
originaJly intended to say 'I felt joy
"Music Is TODy'fllan~ ..e," Janie!! DeBlois says of ber SOD.
once and it WIll! like this: but 'Let's
party!' Not 'I felt grief once; but 'We punch is exploited by TV commer
To !lOme degree thi" idea WlIA'
are grieving together.' Not' I prayed cials, MTV and movie 8COn!8.
supported by previoull iitudies car-'
once: but 'Let us pray.'·
'
Seen this way. the neuroanatomy ried out, by Dr. John C- MlI.'I'.Ziotti
Music-making, in this view. and neuroptlychology of music - the and colleagues at the lInivel'llity of
evolved lIS a central participatory ex
California at Los Anj!1!les. Through
way the brain procesaes mueic:al in
perience. Judd lillena it to sex. but fonnation - begin to make sel18e.
brain 8C8I'I8 that meallure blood now.
more BOciaI. "N, countlesa adoles
'Neul'Q8Cientista are discovering· an index of which part.8 of the brain
cents have dillrovered. the 8010 sex
that the human brain h88 stroctun!8 are mOllt active during a partiadar
ual experience doetl not tell you ev· for p~ing and generating the operation, the UCI.A rf'lOClII'then
erything you might want to know language of musie that are quite sep
found that right-brain IItructureB
about the duet,* he pointa ouL
arate froin those that deal with the tend to "light up" when mUAit'8l1y na
Anthropologic studies of mUBic language of v.'Orrll!. Recent investiga
ive subjects listen to mUAic.
~upport Judd'slll"p;llJtlenL The "main
tions are also turning up suprieee
However. the lICLA lItudiel! sug
thing" ,about traditional African mu
that are forcing l!Cientists to alter gested that musicians' brai"" work
~ic, reports Simha Arum, director of
their conceptions of where music differently. Once people learn to
the National Scientific Research lodges in the brain.
read music and approach it analyti-'
Center of Paris, is its role "in com
Previous thinking, supported by cally, the left. brain becomes more
municating between humans and di·
controven<ial studies, placed music artive in proce8.~ing mu~ieal tonel!,
vinitil!l'l and among membeMl of the
proceRqing in the brain's right hemi
the brain I!C8I1S showed.
community. There are no listeneMl. sphere, Since language lIBually re
However. new studies by JUlltine
Everybody is a participanl"
, Rides in the len brain, which special
.Sel'l!1!nt of the Montreal Neurologi
MUlIK:'s tribal role h8.11 ita con
izes in !<e<luential, analytical oper· cal Institute and HOHpital "how that
temporary counterpart, researche... ations. the idea that music is handled the whole brain ie involved in !lOme if
~peculate. in rituall! such l1.li wed· . by the right brain, which i.~ intuitive,
not most mUllica! 188kA.
dings. funera1A, patriotic oceII.IIiona
holilltic and good at detect.ing the geSel'l!1!nt Atudied the brains of 10
and dancing, parties. I ta emotional IItalt of the outside world.
.
profeMilinal piani.~ts a.~ they read
set
.. Ii
..
C T
Tee c
I.I.ISI'AA'- OOUIOIUY I St/SUIIIIU CHID IWO MIOOAI CHID, Qr. Of' _
...,.,.... "'fOCjOl a:HIfP
Music df'rlvt'd from a portion of a_~~.'!_geDe_~~~~efllor ~ eDzym~Dvo~~ In ~II dlvl~IO!" __ _
Scientists probe music' spower
Fat'ed with mind·numbing mountainA of data. lICIen- ' ye..... ago. Ohno decided that the irihe~nt patt.em.o
tiK'" an' i>E'ginning to exploit the musical skills of the might be _ier to appreciate if they could be t.ume<l inln
music_ He perf'ormed the transformation by 811Aigning
human ear to !<Ort it all out.
In Ahort. they're extracting mURic out or an unlikely two notes of the mUllical scale to each of the four nuclek
range of mawrialR and phenomena. from the j!1!netic acid building blocks (cytosine, adenine, guanine and thy-'
mine), called baIIes.
code of II mOURe edlto the atomic structure of air poilu
The n!8ulting composition, ba8ed on a portion of a
.tants and frum the way g8.l' now~ through a jet engine to
the conRtituE'nu< of human urine. One researcher wa.~ mouee gene called RNA polymerase and entitled "MulL"t' .
able to wll where the ob"idilln in an:heologicaI artifactA Waltz." reminded the California scienlillt of I Chopin
nocturne (OpUll 65, no. 1).
.
wa.~ min.." hy 1i~It'ning to the auditory patterns derivPd
Ohno's gene music, now expanded to In oun'l"l!' of 17
from each !<ample'll conKtituent elements.
pieces derived from such 8OW"Ce8 8.1' a chkken's eye. a
"The human ear ill a marveloull in~troment. " says Da
vid l.unney. II biochemist lit EaI't Carolina University in rainbow trout and a cancer gene, are aet!thetically
Greenville, N.C ... I t can reeognize speech lIOundll and not ing and philOllOphic:ally intriguing, but they haven't re
only derive meaning but get ideas about the sex. age, placed computer analy!!is of gene sequences.
However. a growing number of scientists and en~
regional ori~n and level 'of education of the llpeaker.
When you'n: doing exploratory data analy,,", and you neel'!!! are getting ~rious about the musical or at lellJ't
don't know whar" there, the ear may be superior to the auditory - tral18formation of mute data Reeean:hl'rs
from' ATtr.T. Xerox. Exxon, IBM, Apl,le Computen< and
Rtate of the art in patwrn reeognition:
The best-known tran.formatiuns of scientific data other corporate labs were on hand several weelu! ago at
into music are the "compoRition.~" of geneticist SUllumu the First International Conference on Auditory Dil\play
Ohnu of City of Hope National Medical Center in in Sante Fe. N.M.
"It was a very eclectic meeting." Lunney Raid, *1111'
Duarte. Clllif.
Staring at endh_ MtringM of j!1!netic code AeVeral field iA in ita infancy."
RICHARD A. KNOX
1"_
and plsyed the right-hand portion of
an unfamiliar mUAkal 8C'Ore, a Bach
partita Mu~ical sight· reading, she
noted in an interview, "is one of the
most complex known_ It's much
more ~ophi"tkated than reading
worrlK bct'aul!e notes IIOrt of all look
alike, unlike h,tters. What'A impor
tant ill the rdaliunllhips hctwecn the
notes."
The Montrelll 1'e!lellrchE'r'li brain
scans Rhowed "completE' dissoeia
tions hctween the verhal and mu~ieal
an!aI'" of the br-.un. a novel finding.
. Second. both brain hemi"phere.q ,are
involved in the 188k.
NIt was a big surprise to us: Ser
gent said. "From the literature. it
WIll! alway!! the right hemisphere. If
anything. we found more activity on
the left. than right. but it's symmetri
cal on both sides.~
Sight-reading a 8C'Ore involved II
number of cooperating brain slroc
tures joined in a large neuniJ net
work, Serg!'nt found. The emerging
pieture begin~ to explain confuRing
ca.oe repom of mUAicians, like the
French compoller Maurice Ravel,
who 1000t some but not all muskal
abilities following strokes, head trau
ma or degenerative brain d~,
Sel'l!1!nt said mUllK:'s emotional
power does not _m to litem from
the right brain, either, 88 often 88·
sumed. Rather, music activates the.
amygdala. a l'trocture tucked under
neath the -thinking brain" or cere
bral cortex that containR the area.q
re"ponaible for musical pei"Cf'ption.
undel'lltanding, reading, writing ami
the technical &.Rped.8 of perf'onninl(.
Activation of the amygdala. part
of the limbic system, fita nicely with
Continued on next ~
�~.
I
\
Bach,brains and. surprises
Con.tinu~ from pfeceding page
cepts, Brad spontaneously devised
notions ot mUSIC::i l>I.lU4.I ............" ..... alternative strategies for answering
"In any social activity. the limbic questions that were inaceessible to
system ·must be involved," Sergent him through the medium of words.
said.
, "Music,showed his so-called defi
Interestingly, in recent brain cits have to do ~ith a language defi
studies of musicians playing familiar dt," Bamberger said. ''There must
scores, the Montreal researchers be a language mind behind the ear
found more acthity in the limbic sys that is different from the music
tem, presumably because the musi mind, It's very important to differen
cians were investing the perfor tiate these and not talk about them
mance ~ith more emotional content as a lump."
But music may help humankind
than when they were doing the
merely technical task of sight-read enhance the creathity inherent in all
. ing an unfamiliar score.
minds, not just those that appear im
The discovery that music acti paired. The evidence lies in the sto
vates its own neural network distinct ries of dozens of scientist-musicians.
from verbal language has broad im from Rene Laennec, the 18t.h-cen
plications for the way the mind tury inventor of the stethoscope, to
works and for strategies to enhance Albert Einstein, who took refuge in
mental performance and creati...ity. Bach when stumped by a problem in
theoretical physics, according to Dr.
according to researchers.
For instance, Jeanne Bam IWbert S. Root-Bernstein of .Michi
berger, a professor of music at the gan State University, a biochemist.
Massachusetts Institute of Technol science historian and ceUist.
Unlike words. music is able to
ogy, described how music unmasked
the true abilities of a 9-year-o\d boy "expiore and convey numerous con
experiencing great difficulties learn ,current themes,". Root-Bernstein
ing to read. write and express him notes. WIt requires practice thinking
self verbaDy.
concurrently about cOmplex patterns
The boy, whom she called Brad, .
and sensing multiple levels of inter·
had been diagnOsed as having a "se action - holistic thinking - rather
vere auditory deficit" and "difficulty than Iinear,reductionist analysis."
Music can teach us '\\'8ys to com·
sequencing," but by letting him ma
municate between modes of think·
nipulate a series of bens and discov
er different ,,'aysof playing a simple ing." he argues. And this may "break
accepted practice and
tune, Bamberger showed that nei the bonds
ther. Was true!' Using musical con allO\\' new things to be done."
or
I
'.
�CHICAGO'S (
.SCholars·PUt Minds
To. Studying How>
Music Is Created
~....-ICAL NOTEI
...-..
By Wynne Delacoma
At 6 tonight, Valerie Soltl, wife
of CSO music director laureate
GeoI1, will cut the ribbon ope~
the Symphony Store, 224 s..
f you've ever wondered how Michigan.
."
,
The store is the CSO', fin&
composers and musicians get
those sounds they hear in venture in selling symphony-relat
their heads out through their rm
ed items in • free-standing facility .
gers and Iung8 and into the air the just south of Orchestra HaIL A
rest of us breathe, you might be projec:t of the CSO's Women's AI,.
interested in • tb.ree-day sympo. socaation,it wiD be stocked with
sium titled "Music and the CSO CDs, clothing, poeters. boob
Brain. "
and jewelry. Profits will beDefit.
The gathering of Pulitzer Prize the CSO.
winners. MacArthur Fellows and
Store hours are 10 a.m. to 6
aasortedother experts in both p.m. Monday' tbrouP Saturday,
fields will meet Monday through noon to & p.m. Sunday and untl
Wednesday in the Art Institute of," curtain time. before concerts.
CbiceiO- 1'he Chicago Symphony
Orchestra and the SchoOl
the
NON-liNGERS
WIL
M institutE! are the preseaters. COME: When Windy City P.·"
along with the Foundation for Hu forming Arts puts out a call f.
man Potential in Chicago.
volunteers. it's usually Iookins f.
" Topica for scholarly discuBsion sinprs.
range from "Robert Schumann's
Wblle the cboruaes are expand
Hands, Mind and Brain,tt a look ing, they need help from .....
at how the composer's developing musicians:" volunteers to haDcDe
mental iDnesa affected his campo. marketina, group ticket sal..
siUon, to "The Meaauremeat of' grant writing and other projects _
Music aDd the Cerebral Clock: A weD as daytime ofiJCe help twice a
New Tbeory." Meetings will be week.
held froID 9 a.m. to 4 p.ol. each
Contact Sam· Heller, executive
day.
director, at (312) 404-9242
The program is open to &Dyone.
Registration is 5195. Lunches, a
SPRECHEN liE NEUE
backstage tour of Orchestra Hall MUSIK? Chicago's Goethe Ineti
and admission to all Art Institute tute is presenting a free concert of
eshibits is included. Call (312) new music at 6 tonight in ita
443·3775.
headquarters, 401 N. Michigan.
The program will include a
ARE . WHITE SALIS quartet for aaxopbones by DePaul
NEXT? The CSO is serious faculty member George ~"
about the retail business.
Call (312) 329-0915.
I
s
"CBSlFox Tramps O~t·
So~e Chaplin Classi~·
"..0 CONTROL
By Mary Houlihan-Sklton
DJODe f8mitiar with Iilent
films Is also familiar with
dae life of Charlie Cllaplin.
In the coming months, lePm of
new f8D8 will join these ranka
...h"" Rir.''''l'ti AttenboroWlfl's bi-
A
"1--------
Republic recently released a col·
lectible gift let of Chaplin's early .
shorts for $59.98.
"
The four-volUme aet; features 12
early works inc1udinc my all-time
favorite, ''The Rink," a JUJarfow
story made th.ril1ina with iDc:recIi
ble roller skating stuDt&.
THREE GODFATHERII
_In
-----
1111l1li,
.
fill"
�Composers' Discord: Musicians and Mental I.J1ness
8!
...
~'
CHICAGO
sic, education and communications. In the case 10 musicians as they performed various
of Ravel, the French composer who died in musical tasks requiring those aptitudes.
usic may have charms to soothe 1937, a mysterious brain deteriQration robbed That showed the problem was most prob
a savage breast, but it ,ultimate
him of some music31 abilities but not others. ably in a particular area on the left side of
,
ly tortured the deteriorating said Justine Sergent, director of !;he COgnitive the brain, she said. The tests also showed
minds of composers Maurice Neuroscience Laboratory at the Montreal ' that, contrary to previous asswnptions,
Ravel and Robert SchumaM, said experts Neurological, Institute. "He could generate sight reading milsic uses different parts of
at a symposiwn on music and the brain.
melodies and harmonies in his head, but he the brain than reading words, she said.
In the case of SchwnaM, the German
The illnesses of two of the most famous' was unable to write them down on a score, to
composers ever to suffer from brain ailments play them on 'a piano or to sing t:J:J.em... she said. composer who died in 1856, the problem
Nothing was wrong with Ravel's, muscles included severe depression, excited agita
indicate how the brain learns music and illus
trate how far science has come in dealing with or voice. But bis brain malfunction kept him tion and intermittent hallucinations.
"The sick man reported that he heard the
brain injuries and illnesses that affect musical from being able to sight read and play from
memory, while aIlowing him to perceive tone 'A: constantly ringing in his ears. He
abilities, experts said.
pitch and rhythm, she said.
"
heard entire symphonies rePeating' them
To learn the areas of the brain associated ' selves," said Peter Ostwald, a psychiatry pro
The aim of the three-day conference last
.month was to'stimulate cooperative research with the aptitudes' Ravel retained or lost, fessor at the University of California School of
among experts in psychiatry, psychology, mu
~rgent tested blood flow in the brains of
Medicine in San Francisco.
i
M
i
~
~
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14~1
__________________________
~
_______________________________________
~
_____________________
Schumann atten1pted suicide by throwing
himself into the Rhine River, prompting bis
admission to the mental hOspital where he
spent the last two Years of his life before dying
at age 46, possiblY from self-starvation.
.When he wasn't psychotic, he could com
pose beautifully and coherently and even
played chamber music with Johannes Brahms, ,
a rising star heralded by Schumann and who
visited him in the hospital. Schumann's afflic
tion was diagnosed at the time as "softening of
the bririn," Ostwald said.
He said Schumann's career-long pattern of,
explosive bUrsts of composition followed by
periods of prolonged depression suggest the
composer might have had a brain aihnent
called a temporal lobe disorder.
~
__
~~
, ..:... Associated Pnss
_______________ __
~
~
�- - ..
Tempo
.([bicllJ)o<Tribunc Friday. October 30. 1992
SectIon 5
Music
Se
int
IX
toc
on the
brain
a
'~
wO\lld
Nalior
~
Creativity symposium offers
an earful on how a
talented mind conducts itself
.
O
Feit is
-Cons.
iign Ix'
The
inlmti,
h.a'r a
inlerro·
. By Jon Anderson .
""thou·.
hal;
irenng a6vi« 10 a d&1.s of cnduaIin& music
q.
studenlS. pianisl' GIeM 00uId ooce rec;:aDed
a curious in,idenl dial bIppcncd Wbcu be
was I). He was plVlidni II bome, .......
ina a fu&ue by Mor.art. Wbcu a ~
woman SIlU1cG up a 'tKU\IIII daDcr. TIle coo
juooioll or sounds somehow impriD!ed \be 100ft
ADd
r..
from
fiD.lnCI
mild ..
counter
"Wr .:
rape
Ie
dOOn t.
Fa.lse.
be said.
IIockcy player. III ICeoWlWlt, a ~ Of I
writ~ Wliat euct.ly is involved III IeaminI fO
. play music? What amu at \be braia are brouIlIl
11110 play by music? How is music:al Ibility all'ca
DOC
eno~
MyoU:
cd by braill injury ot di_?
Ure." Fe
ADd :
sphrrf
must fir
he said.
About
","11m
lion iW.
the con
thc-). inl"
EngI_.
'.
10 be I
Slult O!
an: the
Tbc ,
on his mind. Ever after. wbeDever be . . ill a
hurry 10 memorize a _ wort, 00uId always
amllled ror eonlrary aoises--YV Weslema,
BeaIJes rcoords, lIIyth.ina Ioud"-IO b:I&s wbat
be called -\be inner CIt or my ~.
Sucfi work babiu live risc to IlIbstal1tial
questions. Is \ben: somethin& about die miad at
a musician that is dilferat lrom, SI}'. dill at a
Those aYCftucs rot disaasiOI1 are apected to
lead about 1,000 people 10 _
il1terablll coo
dusions when MMusic and \be BraiD: \be sCcoDd
.in a national series or confctences 011 die soun:es
or (Rativil)'. is held Nov. 16 Ih.rou&II .1 II tile
At! InstituIC or Cbic::qo. Anyone alii lisem ill,
for a $195 rcc, and, • .,... orptlizl:r Andrea
GeOiI1 Shindler dryly lIOIed Iasl Week, -.. pro
ccedinp will be in
That _
jaIJ,CIII
IWiIl be held to a minimum.
In IectUl'C5, panel disaJssions, tMcc ~
concau. museum visits and ~ tows at
Orcllcslra HaD. the ptheriaa. will otIU aa CIIICID
bIc or music tbcol'1StJ, paformcn, oom~
ps)'Ch.iatrisu. thel"ij)istJ, ~ aDd eduQ.
ton. AmoD, lbe rour doze. parUciPlllts ....
eonsulWlIS are ceUiIl Yo,.Yo Ma..ncuriJloPl 0l
iver Sacks. composer Shullmia· RIa and HCDr)'
FOld, cxccuti...: directot or !he Chicaao Sympho
OC(.
fo= It
11'1 Orcllcstra..
.
-TIle .1a5l lCOII~crena:J, 011 'Art and die 1ItIia'
in 1988. _. so uatin,: said JOIIIIIe Donda. a
SlIfI' mem!)cr or !he School or the Art Institute. I
. conference sponsor. ·We bad 700 ~ from
allover tbe U.S., Canada, Europe, Mexico.
SouIhAmcric:L A 10& or bi&b-1ewI eDC:IJ)'. TbiI
one should have !he same.•
One hi&h DOle will be Dr. 1~'t, ~
•
neuroloBiSl II die Monln:al N
IIISU
tute. ShC recently IWired die brains or 0 pianists
to mcuun: dian.. in caebtII blood Row •
Ihe'y sia/!I·read a musical score, pIaY!!II III . .
IICIIrc set or variationa by a.dI aDd IistcDed fO
'In Love and War' ~and nbw in politics
"The,
KnousJ"
"Al
a
, I did n·
would ..
confC!SSl
OUI 10
"u
abo·,
lim.lf.
"'0IIJd ~r
He h
stance "
rf t.br c·
cruruu'·
into fOI'fT
Or&I.I;u
1bo<o1:d I:
('\'Cru.!lI I.
SM ..u \.
mOCK.
"Sbt I'ff
Wi
"coord"
FcdcnI B~
.... ~for(
try. 7.9 I>
"1t.hpolio
"nrounded .
ThaI fir
sud! nllo
or
,'r1-:'\
�.
Conr/n~
their 0lI011 riI)UlmS and find a '"lIY , - - - - - - - -
10 miLe • rc"preU'llalion, their""'"
-0"'11 notation, tllil ...·ould allow
oilier )'Ounplers 10 ciaI' !he same
riI)'thm Iller, T'tIey did 1\ Il1ina C\' ,
elYthi,. from compulen 10 rods
\'V'fIIII IeIl8\hS. This SUUC5led
to Bamile'ller thll !.be problems
did QOC in>'OM: poet' lislmi III or
IlOl I'elMmilerina insllVCtioftL
" .. had to do with ai'ina chunks
of in(onnatiOIl that ",-ere mcanina ,
fill. SlniC:Curally coherent and Wac
enoup to make sense," she said.
"The critical thina "''IS that Ihcx
kids were plyin, Ittention to
(eatllniS that ",,-ere consinent and ,
sell sible to tbem, but different
from !he tatboob...
Sludyina bow childn:n proa:sscd
musicil ill(ormltion, leac:bers
lell'lled 10 te!)cb tbem. "Music: ,
trigered lOme:' teic: conceptual
inns: Blmbefser said. ·Like
whit )'0\1 !.Ike 10 be III entity?
Whit mikes I boundlry of I
Ihi.na? Wbal defines the dqrec of
, somelllinl1 The kids were in
,
uipcd with tbcse qurstioas. •
Roben Root-Benulein, I Michi
san SlIle Univenitt physioloaist
and Mac:Anhur Pnze fellow in
1981. wiD disc:u.u "Music:, Inlelli
sence and the Scientist- It the ,
conf'ereoce.
"A dozen yean 110. I stlrted
radina biosraphies of hundreds of
sc:ienlisu. tr)irrG to 5Dd out what
roa.ka Nobd Prize wWIen wort:
be said. "Locs of tMm, I (ound. ,
tIIIked about \be &I'lL" The icb.
proposed by IUthor CP. Snow, of
I CIIII:lIre \\'V bet-.-n !he 5Cicnoes
and \be lIltS _ _ 't boIdina UP."
be said.
.
from ('48f" ,
,remedy lie lried, which did,,'t
WOft...-as to thMl his ailina band
inside !he warm intestines of fresh
, Iy tiRed 1JIimab.
I...iU spon.s medicine. and its at
tempt to heal particuIat ailments
o( Ithletes. I ,rowin, lield o(
modem medicine deals with injlt
ries to !he bodies and spirits o(
musicians.
Music:ians CID suffer (rom wrist
paillS, band Dumbnns, shoulder
cramps and nrain rrom warun" in
oreheslra pits where !he~ i$ lillie
room, SlY' frlDk Wilson. a neu
~ at the UnMnily o( Cali
, rOl'llll ScbooI of Medicine and au
Ibor of "Tone Dear & All
• Thvmbs?" I pide to WIYS tbe
'brain tVnc:tions ill pcrceivina and
c:ratina music.
ProilIe.mi aR Jddom the faul! of
tbe inslrumeou. UllIike such
•oewf&n&Jed inventions as !he com
• puler lerminal, whose c:apacity to
mlim bas 1101 ,el (lcell deler
, mined, mlllical IIlstr]I~1S baYC
evolved over ~~ of )UIS of
· trial and error. Yet matc:hinas with
playera CUI ao Iwry, tometimes in
, mys&erioYS ....ys.
1.0 1964, I.fter a conc:en ill Los
, An,clcs, pianist Govld Ibruptly
· stopped pllyill, ill public: Ind
· "WOfted (or I year uyina 10 rcpin
• his skill: W'1IsoD said ill an inler
or
..
•
.,
tina CYidenoe thaI most iatcDec;tual
and penooaIj"" tr.Li1S aR at leasl
putiaIIy inberi'ted makes it likely
IhIt musical talent is partially iII
berited. I..Ic:ti studies of twins,
we cannoc Sly?or sure."
Thul (ar. (ew researc:bers or
tberapistJ have tul'lled their IUca
tiOD to t.elpill, music:ians Ind
composers oycrcomc bBin dam
• and act I:twdt ill to the SVoiDI of
tbinp, DOted Tedd Judd, I _
~10Iist at Seattle's PIICiIic:
Mcdic:aI Cenler. -" I musici:ul has
I 1IIOte, you have to !.Ike iIIto ac:
• in
&.ani", ~babilitatiOIl,
\be
.
nature of the skills
view.
.. be said. -What's mi5I
"Thouah [his bioInPber) Ono in
friedridllausJled il-O« IS p&I'I of inl! Whal', poss,iblc? CaD you
Hlrmon, wIttt IClence
, hil Ilcvrosil, it il c:lelr (rom CIOmp:IISIIlC? RettaiD:'"
RQOC-8ernSleUI fOUDd two dozen
For aamplc. Judd said. "I( I
..... (
.
"
'th
Gould's liust-refeaxd) diary thai it
.'as (ocal dystOllia, like writer's" mlllician plays by car and from aam..-. 0 ma,jOl' taenl1Sl$ .,
Ir,,,·
c::ramp, I malady QOC described 1& !he pact, and has I memory deft
III~~no~
It lstr..l!:
the tilDe. Gould solved \be J)I'Ob. cU. you c:aa encourqc ,01"1 to din also
,
mHnt:."~
Icm 11,- Jetrlininl bimselr. He
millie."
"Music:I :::~wie dqrec. ill
·"""* 2ClO paaes abouI iL·
S1attInt from tcra~
tuitr..e,. but it's also otMOus thaI
.tMI~ ·
..
· When eome........
tbere Ire ItnaC:lllres to mlilic:
disco<.lnl
•
--.. ...-- -.-..
Otber problems haYC to do with wbida CftaIors bIrwc to make and
Thro<:!f1lo
To bniII tciaJ~ lilt mournful I dapair commoa to musiciaN perfOI'lllCn haYC to reproduce: ,
· problems of musiaanl arc per. whose CIO!. arc iIItcnwined with said DIVid EpsICia, I composer
and""""
haps, rDOft ~ dIaD' tbcir mlllical 1IIiIiIy.
.
aDd CIOIIICIuc:tot wtIo is I pror_
,triumplu, ~ muels aboul
Judd aoa IIKk to buic::I. &$ be or millie II MIT. "Crcatill~
wod:iDp of \be bniL
did
dy with
. % ~
•
01
. _ ......_.
h'.,p.
• "NeumscieDtists bIrwc'devfy.. and "!OtI! who, ~
suIkIiDa I : :10 ira":!..
~ vp ,
dt>U, ..", '
·talIIisbed thai cenaiD II'CIII ~ \be
ira I fall, had diffic:UIty willi lit '"irGCiI of ~Ild
braia, paniculafl, iD tIN riPt payiq IUuUoa_ "He was di.. quaUoaL How do I
to
Bydol1l 11
INmispbcfc, plar III impof1aD1 tnuabt.·.Judd said. "He CIOIIIdII' hell this piece? WIlen 1ft ill
M!IOOfI ~
role ill die JeCqlCiaa and produc play ira pickup jazz buds ill DOisy Itroll, Ic:ceDU? How dOct tile
wiU~ .... :
_lion or millie, AICb &$ lillaial. IIIIOky dubs anymore, He 101 diI- piec:e movd Whit's I ,ood ,
5., ~t
pIayiaa iDsuvmcnll and CII:NIIpolIo tJ'ICUd dIIriD& improvisatioDs. So I tempo? Or I riPt talpo? HOw do
,m,;- How.nI Oanfaer. I HIIYIld _ I him bKlt to pm:Uc:e. He.,. llalow ii's riabtr
.ps)dIoIocisl noccd AIr
IliI ta:hftiquc IIKk in a few ~
Succ:esa ill the rldd -!lira I
c:atioMl Ibeoria" said ill III iDter· but be said. 'h'l pia -;:::............
1Cll1i,",,, to IOIIM aDd I keea
. ..
•....
'..w-.
. • I .._....,_ DO......... I c:aa'
._
jim.
..... IIIJU
Y .................v acme 0Iwue. VMusic is \be __
·We IaIow . . . . . . bodI fiom IJoaa.
.
ciaI lime
Epstcja DOled. "It ,
: ~ ~.
the study 0I1Dl&IIiI:iaM who bIrwc
"Wbcll be (cit confidelll, he IlnM:tIlftS lime. It pIItI ill motioa
..,.,.
...;..... -s :0.
sustained br1ia dam!III and fiom
Idded IiIdc runt- He
I solo aia . cenliD .time ,r_ISH." Also
studies 01 \be blood IJijow and bni8
&$ I pianist .. I I'C$UIvrant. play
uscfuI it I _tMtY to \be ANI>
....'ItS oI'intac:1' 1IIusieiaar.
ina __• music:, wbctc you act Nrc 01 musil:. "Some people CID " ..._ _ _ _ __
·Wc do QOC IaIow wbetJIer thae 011 I chord and noodJc II"OIi.IId fOr- sc:aa I CiOI1ImII of type and pidt
·individvak bad braiDs thaI were C'oU. Hc jammed with I'rieIIdI II out _1iaI ideas.. O\ben. b.M! to·
.."
-
II ready difTcrellt II binll, Ilor bome, eased back into dvbs sup. ,0 throu,b and di,e". Si,hl
·whether thelt braiu haYC I di.lrer by-llep, and 101 to wberc be could iUdiDa music: is \be same. There
,ent 1nat0CDy ill IIduJthood. Bal il afmosi do C'\o'a)'lhina be did be- arc dejrees o( illbom lift....
'is Iitdy dial \be ....,.. ill wfIidI tore...
The (SO's Toad said thaI Ollt
mysic:iaas process musical inf'or·
Jeanne Bambcracr, I Mas:sadIv area be hopes will be aplored II
mation in their IninI is diffenaa scns IDstil\lle oITeehnoIocY pro- the <:DOI'creiIce "is Ihe relltionship
flOm \be ....)'1 thai DOlI-musicians t'cuor of music, SCI liP I das.voom betY._ lIltS trIini!'C and \be de
JW'OCCSI limilar kinds rl inf'orma- (or dlildrell who bid problems YCIopmast 01 c:rath1IY and IIfOb
tioa.
learllill, 10 read Ind wrile. Ic~ ahiJjlic:s.· "'''bat Fogel
• J(~ is ..GOd 'Of poor, ill .Strllllely.'lbe found millY of had ill mlM il I current sour
•milsic, one can'lfll in'fci thai be or them bad eAtraordinary Ibilities note, the national trend toward
she will be IIknlecl or impainld,. with 1.q0l. wooden bloc:ts and c:unina IIKk oa sdIooI music pro
,ill otbcf areas. "EYCD \be fabled fOlm rublNr wilen it came to ....ms. wIIic:b. be wtnICd, could
rclltioll belweell mvsiell IlId: matinL' 6AifII Of bu.iIdinI IhinD Impede \be ftow of)'OWll musi
mathcmltical stills is problbly With ilicir hlnds_ They quiekTy c:iaDs aDd binder dcYCIopeneat of
•spvrious,· Owner said. "While identified pllllau UId rflythms. f1aNrc IIIdieocr:a.
'IIWIY matbematic:ians arc ialertSt- They also kMd musical pma.
"In \be business I'm iII'- be said.
•ed in musical plttcms, tberc is lit·
"I bad IWo tid!. with IIe\'CI"C IV- "we bIrwc to deYCIop audicoas (or
tit' McIe:nce tIW Iiftod musicians elilOr)' ck:fic:its. Tbey covId no« (of. now-Illd (or 20 years (rom
hive Illy speei..- matbcmatied low -till instructions.: Bamber now." You can't c:n:&le music ill I
'1IIcn1L
,er said_ "To my Imazcment, vacVUIII, Foael was sa yill. , 11
,_
"We arc similarlY ianorant about Wben I pve Ihcm I music jiasaw thoup, u Glenll Gould miahl
acquainted
individuals who become puuIe, 'Hot C'IOIlI Bvus' jIIlriblc:d hive Idded, hlvinl one Iround
in the Transportat
. Ic:c:omplbhed mllsic:iaru have I uP, tbe7 lIuiddy put the 1UIIC: badt c:aa help.
,... ....
diffClUlt poetic: constiMioa &om top:thier."
For _
illronnlrioll 011 rbc
r
'l~. _,~
do ~
B_lm_bc_r,e .bld ~,...ld_r_C1I_c_II_P_~posIWII_·_,_caJJ J_ll-!-44._J.-,"_JOB. __
__
__
_
~
=.a
"*'
,
=-
..J
-i';:
he:ldS:=,
IDIII)''
,ot
an:
. ..
R
WANTmGEl
.
,"',- ••.•.•'.~
i
Get
f'whether
'-".,-.:.''''~-''~
.'
....
n;_ICCUm"
_____
w
�DallYHernId '.
Syinposium to study brain, musical ability
By TOM VALEO
Daily lIerald staff writer
When she was a young speech
therapist, Andrea Gellin Shindler
worked with a young woman from
Buffalo Grove who had suffered a
massive cerebral hemorrhage that
damaged most of the left hemi
sphere of her brain.
During the course of therapy. this
woman, Carol Frankel, whose abili
ty to speak had been devastated, de
veloped an artistic ability that as
tounded Shindler. How did the brain
injury stimulatethis flowering of tal
ent, Shindler wondered. What is the
connection between brain function
and creativity?
To seek answers to these ques
tions, Shindler organized a symposi
um in 1988 titled "Art and the
Brain," At her invitation, neurolo
gists, psychologists, artists and oth
ers gathered at the Art Institute of.
Chicago to deliver public lectures on
the most recent discoveries about
how the brain works:
The symposium aroused so much
interest that Shindler has organized.
another, titled "Music, and the
Brain," which will be held Nov. 16-lS
at the Rubloff Auditorium at the Art
Institute.
Two dozen speakers from the Unit
ed States and Canada will speak dur
ilig the three-day symposium, all of
them offering a perspective on how
the brain functions while creating
and experiencing music.
, "When I saw the effect of the 'Art
and the Brain' symposium, I created
the Foundation for Human Potential
because I wanted to organize other
symposia that would attempt to cor
relate brain function with various
abilities," said Shindler, who is exec
utive director of the foundation and
lives in Chicago. "This is just a great
opportunity for people from several
disciplines to come together and try
Andrea Shindler, executive director of the Foundation for Human Potential, has organized a
seminar titled "Music and the Brain."
Oaily Herald PholoiMalII Welsh
Damasio, are doing groundbreaking
research at the University of Iowa,
where they use magnetic resonance
imaging and other techniques to pro
vide dramatic pictures of the brain
in action. Damasio will talk about
some of their results at the "Music
and the Brain" symposium on Nov.'
IS.
This idea that the brain performs
several parallel functions at once· is
a "hot topic" in brain research, ac
cording to pr. John Brust of Colum
bia University in New York, who will
provide an overview of research at
the beginning of the, symposium on.
Monday. "I think the magic word re
garding brain functions is 'network.'
We have this vast assembly of nerve
cells that operate over space and
to figure out how the brain plays a
t,'me s,'multaneously ThIS' type' of
role in creativity."
Much knowledge about the brain
:
I
h
parallel processing is a fundamental
.
. comes [rom s tudymg peop e w 0
difference between the brain and
have suffered brain damage from which musical ability is independent computers." '
strokes or head injuries. By deter
Shindler organized her first sym
of other cognitive abilities."
posium to learn how the brain pro
mining what part of the brain is de
At the "Art and the Brain" sympo
sium, one of the most provocative duces art, and she believes the "Mu
stroyed, and then observing the defi
sic and the Brain" symposium will·
ciencie~that result, scientists have talks was given by Dr. Antonio R.
managed to piece together a rather_ Damasio, who pointed out that our also yield valuable insights ..But she.
detailed map of brain functions.
thoughts and perceptions are the the~" no longer believes that creativity
"We can learn from artists who result of several simultaneous brain' and artistic achievement can be ex
have sustained brain damage by functions that somehow merge into a
plained by a study of brain function
studying what abilities they have coherent, unified experience.
alone.
lost, and how they have reorganized
Damasio and his wife, Hanna·
"I used to think that everything an,_,_
the abilities that remain," Shindler
said:
'
In this tradition, the symposium
will include, on Nov. 17, a performc
ance by Tony Deblois; a blind and
autistic lS-year-old man who is, de
spite these challenges, an e'xtremely
gifted musician. (He. is enrolled at
the prestigious Berklee College of
Music in Boston, where he.is earning
A and B grades eventhough his abiUe
ty to communicate with words is se-'
verely limited,)
,
Deblois will perform two pieces.;...
a classical selection, and Duke Ell
ington's "Take the 'A' Train."
And prior to the performance, Dr.
Leon Miller of the University of Illi
no,'s, who I'S the author of a book tl'
tied "Musical Savants," will discuss
the Deblois case, which he considers
a strl'k','ng example of."the extent to
artist did could be tracked in the
brain, but that's not true," she said.
"You must consider lots of other
things - motivation, what activities
the society considers important,
what kind of support is available to
the artist. One of the foundation'S
consultants, (the classical cellist)
Yo-Yo Ma, said that musical talent
goes far beyond ability. It depends
on motivation, family involvement,
determination, stamina - lots of
other things~ So you canlt trace artis
tic ability entirely back to the brain,
Qut you can't separate it from the
brain either."
Registration for the "Music and the
Brain" symposium begins at 1:45
a.m. Monday outside of the Rubloff
Auditorium of the Art Institute (Co
lumbus Drive entrance). Shindler's
welcoming address is at 9 a.m .. fol
lowed by six lectures lasting until
4:20 p.m;, with a lunch break and
two coffee breaks•.
. Lectures on Tuesday and Wednes
day run rrom 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The
cost orthe symposium is $195, or $95
for medical residents. students and
senior citizens_
For information and a brochure,
call the Foundation for Human Po
tential at (312) 528-2488.
�.'.
.
28
.
CHCAGO SUN·nMES. Tt:IURSDAV. NOVEMBER 19. 1992
Ravel, Schumann.
OtTer Clues to
Mental Illness
By Brenda C. Coleman
Associated Pre98
Music may have charms to
soothe a savage breast, but it tor
tured the deteriorating minds of
composers Maurice Ravel and
Robert Schumann, experts at a
symposium on music and the
brain said here this week.
The illnesses of two of the m08t
famous composers ever to suffer
from' brain ailments could provide
clues into how the brain learns
music. They also illustrate how far
science has come in dealing with
brain injuries and illnesses that
affect musiCal abilities.
The aim of the three-day con
ference-sponsored by the Foun
dation for Human Potential, the
Chicago Symphony Orches..... and
the School of the Art Institute of
Chicago-was to stimulate cooper
ative research among eJ:perts from
varying fields. such as psychiatry,
psychology, music, edueation and
rommunications.
In the case of Ravel. the French
composer who died in 1937, a
mysterious brain deterioration
robbed him of some musical abili·
ties but not others, said Justine
Sergent, director of the Cognitive
Neuroscience Laboratory at the
Montreal Neurological Institute.
"He could generate melodies and
harmonies in bis head, but he was
unable to write them down on a
8OOre, to play them on a piano or
to sing them," she said.
Nothing was wrong with Ravel's
muscles or voice. But his brain
malfunction destroyed some abili
ties, including being able to sight
read and play from memory, while
leaving intact his ability to per·
ceive pitch and rhythm, she said.
To learn the areas of the brain
8880Ciated with the aptitudes Ra
vel retained or 1061, Sergent tested
blood flow in the brains of 10
musicians 88 they performed var
ious musical tub requiring those
aptitudes.
.
That showed the problem was
m06t probably in a pa.rtk:ular area
on the left side of the brain. she
....
-
11
Robert
Maurlc.
Sc:humann
Rave.
Composers suffered brain ailments
said. The tests also showed that
contrary to previous assumptions.
sight.reading music uses different
parts of the brain from reading
words. she said.
In the case of Schumann, the,
German composer who died in
1856, the problem was mental ill·
ness, which included depre&siOl
and hallucinations.
"The sick man reported that ru
heard the tone 'A' constantly ring
ing in his ears. He heard entirt
symphonies repeating them
selves," said Dr. Peter Ostwald, ~
psychiatry professor at the Uni
versity of California School (J
Medicine in San Francisco.
Schumann attempted suicide b
jumping into the Rhine Rive:
prompting his admission to th
mental hospital where be sper
the last two years of his life befOi
dying at age 46. P068ibly fror
self· starvation.
•
.... --- .....4Ikd
�m
.,...........
19 '9Z 09: 18f:¥1 o1IRN COMtUiIC~T!Ct6
".~
... ,................. .
2 Composers' Mental
Pain Illumines Brain
By 8renda C. Coleman
AMoaIIt... ""'
.,
:
..
�TIlE FOUNDATION FOR HUMAN POTENTIAL
�,.
,..p,~-
THE
BOSTON GLOBE
MONDAY,..INflJARJ Ie.
. :;":
I.'
.A.~;:~
.
,.:
."
I
,
"
glimpse of how mind prOduces art
damas;!ed artist raises new questions on the elUSive relationship between
I
n Oct. 31. 1973. a blO<XJ vessel burst
In the left hemisphere of Carol Fran
kel's brain. She sUpped Into a coma
and would have died without a risky
operation In which doctors removed
blO<XJ to relieve pressure on her brain. But
she left the hospital eight moriths later. the
right Side of her body was paralyzed and she
unable to speak.'
, .
,'The woman, then only 20. went to live with her
min~
and brain
j~
\
,
parents In suburban Chicago. ~eturnlng to ~oIJegeShlndler. now a r~rch aSsociate In the neurol
was out of the question, so, with nothing to db, she
ogy department at Michael Reese Hospital and
tookh!,!r mother's suggestion and signed up for 011
MedICal Center hlLChlcago. "I thought that per
painting lessons. It did not ,look like a promising
haps when she could no longer communicate
, hobby: Frankel had nev~r: tllsplayed any artistic
through speech" she developed this ability to com
talent. and although right-handed, st,e would have
munlcate through paint."
e·r. left hand!
to paint with l1
'
There was evidence to support her theory. Some
autistic children who lack the ability to speak pro-
Within a few months"h.:0wever, Frankel was
producing pictures so accomplished that her
duce vibrant drawings. Nadia. a profoundlyautle
speech pathologist begllfl to wonder If~n In
tic child born In 1967 In England. astounded pey_
jury had someQ,ow stimulated her perceptlons~-. rh I gists with her precOCiOUS pencil sketches but,
"I knew loouldn't do with my naht, ~nd, ........ ~~ o~~. ,,' , ';..
"
•
Carol was doing with her len:' said A~ CfeHt!' ' . BRAIN~~!
"
GJo~ photolMlcha~1 M~lnharrll
Carol Frankel displays one of her paintings.
.
r
- '....
�".
:::~Searchtng
for answers. on ,how themtnd produres art
~
'CMttnuedfrom Page 46
' . a.A1II
,f!
,gJter the age of 9. when she began
rctoapttak. Nadia lost Interest In
drawing. The same thing hap
,pned hi Frankel; when she rccov
"..-ed lOIRe ability to speak. her In
~ In palnttng waned.
"II'
Eftrltually. Shindler found a
t~I" explanation for Frankers
,.....,..,' development In "Drawing
"iOn tbe Right Side of the Brain." by
.latty Edwards. who teaches draw
n.,. at California State University
'''lin Long Beach.
9\ (
,
.
.
,~rdlng to.. Edwards. most·
.
who draw produce stereo
'I~yped or Idealized notions of what
' E l ng looks like. Images gen- .
l
•
by the braln's left heml
' I ' which psychologists char
~as the logical. problem-
side. Instead of drawing
(l
&ft,' of a person sitting nearby. "
~ . example. most peOple create ge-' .
,
features that bear little re
.......nce to the person nearby.
IIIdwards frustrates this tendency
,..,. having her students copy a
"wing hung upside down. a tac
, tie that precludes relying on men
pes and forces the
more creative right heml
to take over.
reason for this Is un
Edwards said. "But what
explanation. It works."
l5
For years. Shindler considered
'-Writing a case study about Fran
~ers blossoming artistic ability.
ut with research on the brain ae
leratlng so rapidly. she decided
nstead to Invite neurologists. psy
hologlsts. artists and specialists
rom other fields to partiCipate In'
sympOsium. Held last year at the
rt Institute ·of Cb.lcag6'<1ild co
,pon~red by 'MIChael Reese Hos
al. It was titled "Art and the
'aln" and brought together near
y two dozen speakers who pro
~~Ided tantalizing clues to the mys
tery of Carol F.rankers artistiC tal
fnt.One premise put forth early In
~'the symposium shaped all subse
"'qucnt discussion: Creativity Is not'
a function of the brain; It Is a
function of the mind. and the'
,"mind Is a creation of SOCiety.
.; "Children come Into the world
.;nllndiess. but not brainless." said
;'ElllotElsner.· professor of educa
'I lion and art at Stanford Unlversl
;ty. "Socialization. acculturation
;.and education brtng the mind Into.
.belng. The mind Is a cultural
athlevement...
Creatl~ty
fa coated
If creativity Is a product of Ihe
mind. psychologists agree. search
Ing for creativity In Ihe brain Is as
fllllle as looking for the soul In Ihe '
body. Creallvlty exists only In Ihe
contcxt of society. which defines
J,iaaalUl& aides
and rcwards creatlvc activity. said
• The effectiveness of Edwards'
Dr. Howard Gardncr, professor of
echnlque prompted Shindler to
- education at Harvard University
onder If something similar had
and eo-dtrector of Project Zero. an
iappened to Frankel. Perhaps.
aC<ldcmlc think tank devoted to
:Ike a student confronted with an
pslq..jf.iown picture. she had,
the study of creallvlty.
een·. . . by. her Injury to use
. er rlIid" '-"Isphere. which con
In~"" dormant artistic tai
nt. .
"There can be no such thing a8
a hermit creator," said Gardner. '
"Psychologists tentl to vlcw Picas
so as a solitary genius who cre
ated Cubism In Isolation. In this
view. the artist was born with cre
ativity. and If we knew enough
about the brain. we'd know exact
ly where to look for It. But It's slm
pllstlcto try to locate artistic cre
ativity In the brain."
Instead. like all creative people.
PicassO functioned within a "d0
maIn" - a discipline or craft val
ued by the SOCiety. Gardner said.
Also. Picasso was subjected to
judgement by the "field" -that
colleCUon of cr.IUes. teachers .and
others who recognized that Cu~
18m ~as an extraordinary break- .
through and defined Picasso aa •
genius..
BpUe,., aad emottoa
Aut there Is one brain disorder
that may stimulate artistic pro
ducflon - temporal lobe epilepsy.
. The temporal lobe. said Dr. David
Bear of the Vanderbilt University
School of MediCine, plays a cruCial
role In motivation and emotion.
The amygdala. an almond-shaped
structure within the temporal
lobe,seems to act as a modulator
between perceptions and the emo
tional responses to them. But the
temporal lobe Is extremely sus
ceptible to the "electrical mis
chief' caused by seizures. .
"In the epileptic. the amygdala
and other structures In the tempo
rallobe may become overactive. so
sensory a.gnals call up 8trong
emotlq~s." Bear said.
,
. SOme temporal lobe ~.
for e¥ample, develop hyPe1'gra
This perspc!ctlve suggests thai;
ph~ ~. the compulslo'n to express
for Carol Frankel. brain dam.
'. themselves at length through
dkl not produce artistic ability,
wMtlng. One person with this syn
Rather, her dlsabtllty caused W.
drome wrote 10.000 pages In a few.
to enter a new·domaln - palnt"'l
weeks. "Removing the amygdala
_ where she could apply her fe,cf·
can take that urge away," he said.
clous determination to master ...
Some temporal lobe epileptics
new skill. She began to paint well
Van Gogh and Dostoyevsky. for'
enough to earn praise; In other
example - have highly active
words. her success probably re
amygdalas that send to the pre
sulted from motivation and con
frontal lobe "messages that the
centration. not from a physical aI
world Is suffused with momen
'teratlon of her brain. In' fact.
tous, significant events." Bear
many psychologists believe there
said. 'This triggers moral. reli
Is IIttlc dlffcrence between the
gious and philosophical preoccu
brain of a brilliant crcator and
pallons. and the desire to express
that of an ordinary person.
oncsl.'lf in truly rcmqrkable ways.
"If wC'rc cver able to scan the
There's evidence thai St. Paul, Ma
brain of an artist at work. we'r~
scs and Muhammad were epllep
less likely to find anatomical dlf
lies. Maybe this could lead to tran
fercnces than processing differ
s("cndcnt artistic producllon too."
ences," said Gardner..
~~
.
�.
..:'"'.~.
to Fraakel's cue, the brain In
Jury cauaed eGnvulalona. and she
'remaina vulnerable to seizures.
said Dr_ Nleholae oJ. Manno. the
Rockford. 10.. neurosurgeon who
performed the operation that
saved Carol's life. Consequenlly.
he said. her emotions probably
have been affected. "My guess Is
that her emotional response Is not
. always appropriate." he said.
Although temporal'lobe epilep
sy may stimulate the urge to cre
a~. 8J*Ittaiiats agree that any de
strudtan or brain tissue will prob
ably Ilbpalr artistic ability. How
,ver, eYen after brain damage,
~, artists swiftly learn to com
.--te. an Indication that brain
."'unctlons are not neatly localized,
as psychologists have long be
. Ueved.
.Even speech. long thought to
lie controlled by a small portton of
the left frontal lobe. Is much more
eontplex. Computerized. brain
. . . . conducted on conscious pa
....t. show that. during speech.
..... portion of Ihelen hemisphere
tbM French surgeon Paul Broca
:tdenttned In 1860 as the source of
;'tPaman speech Is very active In
deed. But the right hemisphere Is
...-ny active. said Dr. Elliott D.
. . . professor of neurology and
c pychlatry at the University of
Tqa. in Dallas.
The right hemisphere, Ross
t" tiaJd. Interprets the "melody line"
. '" '~h, those Inflections that
clarify the meaning of words. Peo
ple who suffer strokes In that re- .
glon can stili speak. but only In a
flat, emotionless way. and they
cannot deteel emollon or Irony In
the speech of 01 hers.
The parallel brain
Research demonslrates that
the brain processes Information
In a parallel. nol a linear fasblon.
\..I1l!11· recently. many psych%
. . . . .med that sensory data
~ from one region of the
brain to another. An Image on the
,rel.lna. for example, would pass In
a linear fuhlon through regions
Ihat dlsllngulsh color, form. depth
and so on. wllh the perception be
coming more sophlsttcated as It
progresed.
"That vIew Is no longer ten
able," said Dr. AntoniO Damaslo.
ht'ad of the neurology department
al the University of Iowa Hospitals
and Clinics In Iowa Clly. He of
fered the example of an artist who
In 1978 suffered a small stroke In
the right visual cortex at the back
of the brain, which left him un
able to see color In his left viSual
field. The artist's visual acuity re
mained as sharp'as before, and he
could stiU Interpret what he saw.
Only his color vision was affected.
',f this can happen," Dama.lo
. said. "It Is not possible to. conceive
of sequential processing In the
brain. Obviously. the brain farms
out work to various regions slmul-·
taneously." How the brain re-as
sembles these. parallel operattons
Into a single. unified perception;
remains a mystery, he added.
But It Is the brain's ability to
synthesize perceptions that lies at
the heart of artistic creativity,
said Dr. Jerre Levy, a neuropsy
chologist at the University of Chi
cago. That Is why she believes
that the corpus callosum - the
bundle of fibers connecting the
two hemispheres ..:. Is probably
larger In highly talented artists
than In other people.
With Carol Frankel. brain
damage did not enlarge the corpus
callosum, which Is genetically de
lermlned, and no one claims that
the Injury created her artistic tal
ent. The most logical conclusion Is
Ihat the Injury caused Frankel 10
develop abllilies she already pos
sessed, abilities nurlured and ex
. pressed through art. said Stan
ford's Elsner. .
"The development of t he mind
depends on what we've been ex
posed to." he said. "That'S why
art should be singled out for aUen
lion - art Is a means for cultivat
Ing the mind."
.
.
PhOto tlDUru.y/Projecl Zero
Howard Gardner of.~' does research on creativity.
Tom Vateo Is ajournallst who
trues In Arlington Heights, Ill.
�Disorder or genius? In art,.a profound debate
...,-.
.
Frankel had been right-hand dominant
before the stroke, she now painted with
the left hand; where she had shown no
talent for painting before the Stroke,
she nOW produced interesting, attrac
tive landscapes.
So fascinated was Ms. Shindler by
. these phenomena that she interested
several authorities, especially her chair
man, Dr. Daniel B .. Hier, and Don
Seiden, then chairman of the Art In
stitute's An Therapy depanment, in
hosting the symposium, and then she
, raised funds to underwrite it.
No Ot1e was more surprised than the
three of them when the symposium was
deluged by an unexpected 750 at
. tendees-physicians, artists, art
educators, an therapists, and students.
Most were Americans, gathered from
Hawaii to Boston. There were also
Canadians, and visitors from as far Carol Fr<ntIul in /rrml of her art.
away as Italy, Denmark, and England.
The program consisted of 20 presen
tations made over a span of two and a
half days, plus an exhibit of an by pa
tients with mental and physiological
brain disOrders (see box).
The' presentations feU into three
categories: the connections between art
and the brain, the mental health of
anists, and the an of the mentally dis
abled and brain-damaged.
Neurologist Hier set down physio
logical anchors by emphasizing that art
relies OIi the brain's ability to direct:
manual skills, visual perception, spatial
manipulation, memoty evocation, em0
tions, creative play, and signification.
It does this primarily through two left
brain systems: goosis, the recognition Andrea Shindkr, director of the "Art and /he Brain" symposium, talks rm/h
of sensory stimuli, or perception; and Dr. Louis Coplan, an otteruke who f_rly chaired /he Neurology deportment
praxis, the ability to perform skilled al Miclrael Reese.
motor acts. Each artist's work is Unique
because eacll person's brain is different, fessor of e.:tucation at Harvard Univer
According to Chicago an critic and
he said. "Each artist must find his own sity and author of the bookArt, Mind, historian Sue Taylor, Pollock was' an
an form in his own personal tool kit." and the Brain, elaborated his belief that alcoholic whose addiction began in high
PsYchologist Howard Garruler, pro- creativity may not be whoUy located in school.. He lived most of his life in
the brain but may be pan of the whole severe depression and was diagnosed as
person, and, further, involves more a schizophrenic. For treatment of these
than one person. "There are no hermit emotional disorders he turned to a long
creators," he said, "Cubism didn't list of psychiatrists, starting in 1937,
spring out of Picasso's head just as nOrte of whom cured him.
. Sixty paintings by 14 artists a.Imost orderly progression' through
Pollock's work began, as does that
psychoan3lysis didJi't spring out of
stole the show at the H Art and the developmrntal stages. But her draw
Freud's head. Creativity does not of other artists, Iiy mimickin8 the
Brain" symposium. Not as con
ing ability deteriorated as the severi
spring out of ilnyone'shead."
greats who went before him, including
troversial as a student's painting of ty of her autistic symptoms lessemid.
Rather, Picasso's development of Picasso. So Pollock's early work was
the late Mayor Harold Washington
-Carolyn Sturn, an ¥l student,
representatioual. His tater work was
cubism and Sigmund Frend's develop
which hung in a nearby room, the suffered a severe head injury at. the
ment of psychoanalysis were natural quite primitive, essentially large can·
exhibit demonstrated in a purely age of 19 yaus and developed
courses, built upon the work of others
, ccmrinued 011 page 8
graphic way the effects of brain temporal lobe seizures. The visual
wbo came before them_ Picas&o-started,
pathology on an. The exhibit was impact of color and texture in her
as most artists do, bycopying·thestyles
put together by co:.:urators Wendy abstract painting, gives them the
of creative anists who had gone before
Heller and DaVid Henley, with help power to communicate as well as did
him. .. But by the time he was 20 he
.
from Dr. Danid Hier, Don Seiden, her earlier work.
painted as well as anyone in the
and.Andrea Shindler. Among the,
world," Gardner said.
works exhibited, in addition to those
He explained that cubism developed Coruribuling Wn:rm
of Carol Frankel, were these:
Theodore &rland, Dimd Bums, Andru
out of low-an forms, especially carica
-A prolific and successful painter
tures. Other famous artists had played Celor!$ky, JOIJJI David, Maxine Duster,
,of movie posten in the 1%Os and
with cubism before Picasso; he simply S/eWJI McGuire, HoUy Reo
1970s, Reynold Brown suffered a
developed it further.
.
ri3ht-hemisphere stroke in' 1976.
Pablo Picasso was a prime example Published by Michael RusIHotpilal and
This affected the fine motor skills of
of Prof. Gardner's definition of the
Medical CttUer, l.4Ju SIumt Drive al 31$1
his'dOminant left band and his visual
creative individual: a person who
Sene!, Chicago, lL. 606/6, an affiJiau of
spatial abilitieS: He learned to draw
regularly solves problems, or fashions
the Jetuish Ftderarilm of Mell'OflOliIan
with his subordinate right band, but
. products, in a way that is initially novel
Chicago and the Priurker School ·of
therC were large gap$.of empty space
but eventually becomes accepted in at
Medicine, UttitJmily ofChitago. To corre.cr
in his: fi.nt, post-stroke drawings.
least one cultural setting. "A creative
yQIIt' add_; order a sub$Cripl'imi f(]l' a
Over the. yean he has learned. to
individual scans his, domain to see
friend, (]I' disamtimu yQIIt' subsaiprilm to
oven:Oine this.
where' he fits, and then pushes it," he
. the Michael R=;e News, add_ the
-Nadia, an autistic British'child,
said:
DepatI/fIIml of Public Affain at Miclrael
Was, a, preaxious artist who. at the
Picasso, in· tum, influenced other R_. Clumgu of add_ slwuld h,
'age Of tIiree.yaus made drawiDgs of
artists_ One was Jackson Pollock. He acc~ by an 014 add_ label.
incredible, accomplishment. Her.
had, a love-hate relationship with
workcballl:nged the 8ssumption that NiWia's worll at six yean of age.
Picasso, whom he adored and copied; Ivan R. Dee·>
the ability to
must follow an
yet he felt Picasso was his competitor. Di1fttDr of Public A/fizin
By Theodore Berland
"The more disiurbed I am, the more
I function as an artist. "
. Thus Vincent Van GOgh expressed
better than any of his fellow artists the
popular image of the "crazy artiSt."
The quote is especially fining since he
is the archetype. Cutting off his own
ear and sending it to a lover made him
at least as famous as his explosively col·
orful flowers and landscapes.
Van Gogh was nOt the only famous
painter who was mentally disturbed
and who fortified the public's stereo
type. Bur the preponderance of pamt·
ers who are emotionally stable makes
the point that an anist need not be
CI!iZY to be innovative.
As an epileptic , Van {iQgh is also the
archetype of the person with organic
brain lesions whose disease is reflected
in his an. The relationship of emotions
and brain lesions to painting is inti·
mate. The brain is the seat of emotions
as well as the seat of creativity, percep
tion, and manual dexterity.
To explore these connections, a sym
posium called " Art and the Brain" was
'held in mid-May at the Art Institute of
Chicago under the joint sponsorship of
its school's Department of Art Educa
tion and Art Therapy, and Michael
Reese's Depanment of Neurology.
The idea for the symposium was that
of Andrea Gellin Shindler, research
associate with Michael Reese's
Neurology depanment. As a speech
pathologist, she worked with Carol
Frankel, who had suffered a stroke 14
years before, as a 20-year-old college
student.
The cerebral hemorrhage left Ms.
Fnmkel unable to move pans of her
body and unable to speak. Therapy im
proved both of her disabilities but did
not restore them. To express herself in
another mode, she took up painting.
Ms_ Shindler noted that where Ms.
The exhibit illustrated the issues
-
Michael ReeseNews
drm.'
�· j
,Symposium seeks creativity roots
,conlinued from page 2
vases laid on the floor onto which he
dripped paint. The quote from Van
Gogh about being a better artist when
he was disturbed also applied to
Pollock. Some psychoanalytically
oriented observers ,likened bis dripping
techniques to the fecal smearing of
(other?) repressed mental patients,
.Ms. Taylor said that according to one
observer, Dr. Antonio Darnasio, the
'changes in Pollock's paintings may
have been the direct result of gradual
brain damage caused by heavy and con
stant consumption of alcohol. If that is
the case, !tis abstract expressionism
may have been the creative result of the
neurological dimming of !tigber con
trols and "more primordial type of
cognitive and neural orgaiUzation."
TItis may also have been true of Van
.Gogh, according to psychiatrist
Dietrich Blumer of the University of
Tennessee. "It can be shown that
Vincent's illness, except for rather brief
periods, did not impair but rather
enhanced !tis creativity," he said.
"While in Paris and before his depar
lUre for Aries where he was to pwnt
perhaps the most intense paintings ever
produced by an artist, he began to
suffer from episodes of sudden terror,
of peculiar epigastric sensations, and of
lapses of consciousness. His use of
absinthe, an alcoholic beverage with
convulsant properties, most likely
played a role in the precipitation of !tis
illness," which was diagnosed as tem
poral lobe epilepsy.
T!tis makes sense, in the view of
psychologist Wendy Heller of the
Department of Psycltiatry, University
of Chicago. "Art is as much a language
of emotion as it is a collage of skilled
brush Strokes and superb spatial rela
tions!tips," she observed. "Not only
do emotional functions of the brain
continue to influence and enhance the
artWork of individuals with damage to
the brain, but they affect the creation
of art by non-brain-damaged individ·
uals.
"This can be seen in certain aspects
ofcomposition, and the effects seem to
be due to different patterns of brain
activity during different emotional
states. II has been found that when a
person is sad or depressed, frontal,
regions of the right hemisphere are
more active than the same parts of the
left hemisphere, but when a person is
cheerful or happy, frontal regions of the
left hemisphere are more active than
the same parts of the right hemi
sphere. "
She added, "The emotional
organization of the brain affects, the
perreption ofpicrures well as the crea
tion of art. Apparently the right
hemisphere has a more negative, sad,
and pessimistic view of the world,
whereas the left hemisphere has a more
positive, cheerful, and optimistic view
of the world."
Drawing is not the problem, accord
ing to BellY EdwardS, art professor at
California State University, Long
Beach, and author of the popular book
as
Don Seiden, art advisor, explains the exhibit to NatimuJI Public Radio.
Drawing ~ Ihe RighI Side of the Brain. 'skills is essential to later work, just as
The problem is seeing .• , In the !tistory acquiring basic language skills is essen
of creative endeavors, envmoning is a tiaI for writers." The basic trick, in her
recurrent theme. To cite a Jew well- view, is to gain access to the Linage
known. examples, [physicists] Albert fomting right side by presenting the
Einstein, Neils Bohr, and Richard brain with a task that the normally
Feynman ail spoke of seeing the solu dOlni~i and verbal left side will tum
tions to problems in the form of down.
images, visual formulations, or
One conclusion was agreed upon by
diagrams before rendering the results most participants of the conference: the
of thinking into linear languages," she yeasty exchange berween the various
' disciplines deserves to be pursued.
said.
"Realistic drawing requires learning Other formalized discussions of the
to see with some accuracy what is ac relationship berween art and the brain
lUalIy in front of the eyes. Most artists may be in the offtng.
agree that acquiring basic perceptual
.. ........
,
"
Two views of !he same windmill by Ihe'same artist: kft, before Alzheimer's
,
'
__
~e::.::.ghl, a f t e r . ·
i
--I
/
I
,,
i:
�...
,(
A4 • T'be Chronicle of Higher EducatioCl •
JUDe ~l. 1989
'.t
Foot
notes
n.e .Uiaac1e of edilor ...... '
wri.r _,. be !be quinlaaeDtial
10........ rdatiocuhip. Iktween
Iwo poq>Ie who Ihink they kllOw how
to wrile. few tIlilllS are touchier
lban confticli.,. idea! about the best
_y to el,,",SS UI ma. On lhe
oIher hand. whal would edilors and
'aDthon e.er do withoul each other?
Alwt week's annual meetins of
the Associalion of American
Univenity """",,•. a Iong'lime
editor at lhe University of Toronlo
Press aftd a 1W0fessor of hi,tory
wilh sneral books 10 hi. crtdil
testified to lhe ,,"ckliness of the
pannenhip between editor and
author. Oddly enough. the editor
pointed 10 a«asions when less
editing might be called (or. and lhe
aUlhor acluallY asked (or more .
Scholarship
.Creative Works by Neurologically Impaired Artists
Provide Scientists With aWindow on the Brain .
Researchers say styles of\'3.n Gogh, Pollock, ,and others ma~' have been inOuenced by the~rdebilities
•
"We sbould beWIlft of editiftr
.. craft fOlf craft'. aalte." said Ian
Montaene•. editor in chief at lhe
Toronlo ,,",SS.
.
In fact. he que'llioned the ellent
10 which ~i",". cI scholarly works
in pattic:u..... load the rilJbl 10 lIun a
rna""scripc iolo somethin, more !!wi
the author had made it.
He maled a story aboul a copy
editor who had noticed IIw •
partkuIarly ~ated
tnaausa\pc .... Iaoc:kin; • 'UMtUltWII
!lUmber of nca:u:ary elplanatory
noIes. Sbe labored lone at ftaagin. an
the places where noIes were .
needed. _ thus CtUled the
opportunity for the aUlhor 10
com:ct whal would otherwise have
been a slarina deficiency in lhe
llnished wor1t. WIlen the reviews of
the published book came 001. Mr.
M~ said. IJtC lIOIeS were
sinalcd OUI for praise.
In a sense; said Mr. Montaenes.
IOOd wrilen _ sdIoIan subsidize
the edilorial W- IIw flOe. inlo
improvi.,. the - ' of neaI"'nl
authors Wke tile one he described.
ThaI wbsidiiat labor. in tum. helps
. 10 pul leu compelenl scholars on a
more lIQIIy equal foot;.,. with better
ana for tenu .... promotion. and
oIher toeademic 'prius.
"By leveli .... the field." he said,
"we lIR iNldYUlently huni.,. the
berter 'scholar:'
•
Somecimes.lhoup,
Hal
...... ulbon MecI dIalldad 01
ediloriallallor 0110_
William S. Mcfeely. a histon...
althe Univ......y of Georgia.
described • ..,.,tillltrial wilh •
particularly dnnandilll copy
edilor-hc wiWs now he had
counled all the lillie yellow slips
allached 10 the paps of his
rnanuscripc ..heft she was Ihroush
thai bc<:amc. he said. "one of lhe
mosl extraotdinary i~lel~clual
expc.wnces of my life." The boot
.he wori<ed 011 •• bi~y of
Ulysses S. Graftl published by
W. W. NonOll aftd Company in 1981.
. wenl on 10 win a I'IIlitzer Prize.
"It w<MI1d be WU'th lhe risk." he
told the ..sembled scholarly
publishcn. ·"for --.. uni.enily
pfas editors 10 assert themselves.
_ wor1t witll _ author 10 make •
~:
~
book iDIo
-1OOd-.··
AnIoIIio R. DImIIIIo. U of IowIIt ..IIIdIIon Pollock'••bstnlct expressionism
. On palntln.t mar h.fte Hen lnIIuenc:ed by the neuro!opea/ efIe<:tI 01 alcohol
Iyanus RAriOND
Art. it is said, laysone bare. II miPl also
be said thallhe work 01 visual artists with
neurolosical damatIe lays one's brain hare.
iIIulllinati.,. how its SInJCt\I...s c:ontribule
10 that iII-de1iJled proc;esa c:aIIed c:realivity.
By aereodipity • intent. neurolotlists
and Oilier scientists have been looItiaa at
such ~, botb liviaa and dead, U •
window into tile braiD's inner wortiaas..
No one hu c:omjliIed • iilt 01 c:dcbrated
artists who have suffered braia damatIe.
But if suc:h a .Iill elisled. it m.i&bl well in
dude such figures as Vincmt ftII Gosh
and Jac:kson Pollock.
Van Gosh ii believed 10 ha ve suffered
from emotional and physical debilities, in
c:ludill8 manic-de~mve illneu _
ad
diction to absintlle. thaI some thial affecl
ed the content of his work.
Absinlhe is distilled from aft aIcoMIic
sleep of he~, the principal cooslituenl
heins wonnwood. ·Wonnwood contains
ihujone, a c:hemi<:al known to cause hallu
cinations. Van Gosh. like many Parisians
01 his lime. was an avid absinthe drinker.
lildced. argues Wilfred N. Amold. a pro
fnsor of biochemislry at tile Univmly of
Kansas Medical Center. van Gosh went
beyond fondness to addiction:
Amons other dfects, heavy absinlhe
drinkiaa can c;ause hallu.::inatiom. and
IniD da,mase. Su.::h an addiction miPl
MORE THAN 'MAD GENIUS'
Researchers Link Manic-Depressive Illness and Artistic Creativity
The AmeriC:all poet Robert Lowell
won a Pulitzer Prize for his inlense and
often ironic poetry. He also underwent
treatment 22 times f. manit..:lepn:s·
Jive illness.
Robert Schumann. the German R~
mantic; c:omposer. set poems to music
. aftd wrote four symphonies. He. too.
suffered from boItts of mania and de·
~ssioo that worieMd in .his later.
yean. A ctaSsic study of his work. done .
. in the late 19~·s. showed thai:Schu
mann's .pfoduclion varied with his
moodswinas.
.
In years pUt. those cas<es might· have
been viewed merely as anec:dotes about
"mad genius." examples of lhe notion
that psychic: suffering is often tile well
spring of greal art. But as ...searchers
make more systematic: studin-.uod ap-.
ply the insights 01 neurosc:ie~hey
.... camilli 10. tile conclUsion tbal tile
linD b!=tween manic-depreuive ill_
and artistic c:tealivity are cnore than c:~
incidence .
Indeed. Kay Redlield Jamisoa. asso
ciate professor 01 psychialry II lhe
Johns Hopkins Universily medical
school ••Of.'s so far as to say thilt "Ihere
is enough evidenc:e to PUI writc:n and
arti SIS inlo a high-ri sk group" f. maftK:
depression and lhe sUK:ides sudl illness.
often triucrs.
Ms. Jamison has been invaliptina
the links between artistic produc:tion
and mood disorders. In extensi¥c inter
views with the artistic: "c...a. 01 the
crop"-42 award·winnina plapTights.
poets. novelists; aftd artist~es of
Irealmenl foremOlionaJ illness llIIIIinly.
depression or manic: deprnsiola) oNe...
"vastly elevated over what YG'I'd ex
Pect in the general populalica. KIIr Redfi.... .lam!.- "" . .
Jamison said. Ms. JamiSOll faa.d that
III fIOG\iI, writIn. .nd ....
01
13 pet cent 01 novdists. 21 pel' " " '
. . . . will ' - '
"'I.
CtHtIUtM..d
eM'"' All
.11.....,
.......
~and
�~
!
~
~
.
____. _
_
____. . . .__
~
~
..
~
M
.
~
_
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~
_
. . __
~
__
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~
.
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~
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._t____________
•
l
.
A6 • The CJuooicle or Higber Educatic;lo • JIIIIe 21. 1989
.............
'j
Bear has trealed • numbcrol,.....
who IWvdopcd a previously •
how" taIcnI ill dnwi",. ~,
c.......ic•. One ia now a profeuioon
ani!.l wftoIe llicftly ab5U-.:1 ca.
VUCl. Dr"Bear ay•• "iIIu_ It
philosophic.1 current. ""'wi.
throuJh bet mind...
Also c:omtnoft in all his ~
..Oft. say. Dr. BUt. are~·
distonion. and ftaures taUa _ (
conlUI. as .. ell as use 01 intC"aC co
0<. He .unbule. those lraits 10 n
faclon.
Finl is die role die _~pI:.
plays. The arn~lla it .. aIIIooc.,
oIt.aped slruclure Ihallies deep with.
lhe tempora.llobe. It has bcelI c:aae.
lhe .... n$OC"j' ple.. IY 10 t.IIIe ......,
lion.... becau.. il is believed to pb:
a key role ill formin, aDd reaIIi",
usociations bet...«n sens.at~ .ant
Works byNeurowg;ically Impaired Artists Provide a Wi1ldQW on the Brain
P""
stroke. aftmwvd 1M: !lad 10 f.,..., par.
InUI wOtt bocause 01 his inability to
., fine IWtail. t.andsc:ape painti",
fUmed - - . 10 tile IIbsInocI as well. .
Other wtisll, ... ra Franz. lilted
tnil!.
Mr. Btowa's IIIOfC iIIIpn:ssioni$lic
This "neslect" Irises because the po$l-lltOb pa;ntinp.1N1 Mr. Bro"",
righl hemillPhe,elak.. "" mo,1 oI'lhe has remained fruslrllied "because he
wOft involved in direcli"l attenlion kilew .. hal he I'OUId do" before the
10 ",,",,,ndin••pace. C""ve..,.,ly.
"mite. hi. son sara.
lhe tef\ hemisphere. which directs
. ClroI Frankel's upericnce mipl
1M moto< and vi.uII .kill. ofthe righl
be .ie..ed as die !lip side 01 Mr.
.ide. ha.s ooly limited abilily 10 n·
Brown'" She suffered a siroke in the
pion: bodl ,ide. 01 space. accOfdi"l
left hemisphere 101: . . . 20. Uke Mr.
10 Daniel B. Hier. chairman 01 the
Brown. Ms. Frankel !lad 10 leach
IWpanmem 01' neurolori' al Chica· henelr 10 use her tIOII-domillllll
10" Michael Reese Medical Cenler.
hand. in Ihis case her left. Somethilll
remarltable happened: She discov.
ered. previously u"".pre.sed artis·
Mr. Brown', wife. who i. also an lic ability. o..er the last decade. Ms.
emorions.
ani". fried many lricks o.er lhe
Frankel has refined her lechnical
S<!cond. """ oflhe funcl;'- of ,'"
yean 10 cue her husband io auend to skill. as a land>eape ani.., yel she David Bear. with CT·ICaMtII .. brain: Temporal-lobe epiIepsr
temporal lobe is 10 identify ob;cct.
lhe tef\ side 01' the canva•. none 01 ha.s not fully recovered her abilily to "actu.a!ly ~ crute. de - . lII1ktic c:ruthriI:J:
rather Ihan localift& them in splICe. I,
'ful. speak 0< mo.e.
which were completely
a persotl with lemporal-Iobe epicp
"'ys Franz Bro..n. Mr. Bro..n·s son.
AUhoop no one <:aJI be certain of IanJlWll'!. and in perceivina die orien JrOUpol people: lho.. who havelcm
"Ihe ovcractivity of ne...,., cdh
Ne.erthele... with praclice. hi. lhe rcaso;o for 104.. Frankel's new· lalion of objects in spitce. The laller poral-Iobc epilepsy.
here could lead to bei", absott>ed b~
..Oft .howed increasing technical found arti.tic .bilit;a,,/hey do iii in skill is considered by many 10 be l1li
Epilepsy a/IIiclS about 1_ million
Ihe filurc iDdepende"l of Ille
.kill. even thoo&lllhe ri&lll .id.. 01 well ..ilh prevaili... think;n. aboul importanI one for vi..... anisu•.
people iIIlhe Uniled SlaIe..1t is no! a
JII"OUnd:' Dr. Bear .peculates..
. Hence. wheft Ms. F........
o:Jam.. di..,..., in ilself. bul rather a lerm
br.Iin s,.ecializalion. In IIIO!I risht
hi. dra..incs are " ..ays mote heavily
'A P...-...I Tool !Lil'
wOfted.
hanlkd people. the left he misphere is qed left hemi.phere was uRable 10 thai enc'ompas..,. a vllriety 01 proc.
Hi. $lyle cllansed in a number 01 dominant. This par1 oIlhc brain
..ett dominance. the visually cre
cun-SliCh as Iocad injuries. IW
Dr. Bear says (hal. based (Ie hi.
other way•• says Franz. a profe.sion
cialize. ill loP: and the syntac:licaI alive abililies 01 her ri&lll hemi5j)hcre creased o.ygen now. or inrection_ . "peric"". and impteMions I'rnm
aI pItotOJlrapher and an crilic. Earth
meanins 0I1ancUa8e. Thus, daJna&c were. in .. senee. released 10 U "",,S thaI can damage lhe central nervous colle........ lhen: is a small but 'IitpiI'.
chan.ed io briahler. cleaner to lbe left side oIlbe brain commonly
them..lve. more fully. ~roiosi.i. s~em and result in ~I ..,
icanl fnoction of epi1c"'M: patiaIl.
colon as Mr. BI'OWII'. percepiioo 01 lead, 10 l1li apI\:I:lia--;utlllObolily"9' fUll...· zures. Temporal-lobe epilepsy is so ...ho IWvelop serious atti!.lN: taImt
cOlors inten"n..t.. Allhouah Mr. _1.PCM.IMoIrite';'ot Ibfdd. eJiivene· . M,. Foaokd.·s newly pined arii.. IIIImCIII becau.. the seizu"", an: fo
follo...i", the onset 01 the iII-. He
..hal ",,;que aosed ill lhal par1kvlar par1 of lbe
Bro..n had bquo doing IIIOf'C par. Iy. the rillil lIei'!Iiopben: typi<;aJly lie. wlls may be _
also believes. alan. wilh _
..r lois
lrailure wort and painli,. 01 West· specializes ill ~ .lIIOIioN. IU'ftOIII Slmke pilienl.l. but they are nil. The lemporallobe ilOCkides aD
coIle>opes. 110M
seizura "..
ern.molif landscapes before th.e
indudilll IIIe ~ upccls. 01 110(' so uncommon IU'ftOIII _her 01 the lower haJf 01 ,he bnia. so per.
Goal! it t.nowa 10 "ve lUft'en::d ......-c
__ willi seizure, ill this _
cu lhe result oIepi1epsy. allhooP dIis ill
".
display a myriad Of emolional or cOl
.
I poiftl 01 some c:onlrovmy ..,.,.
an hiSloriafts.
COftImIlftalities_
If it "' true. ill'OUld help 10 e.....
Villi GoaI!'s eHensive diaries _ :
C"_ti,,ud
Pal' M
es&cd ill schi:IIopbreIIi For JIWI)'
the manic Il.IIe. whal psyc!li. bowe_. acconIilll 10 David M.
01 poelS. .l& percentolanills. and SO yean... ~-: _ • poorty aIIisu c:a/I ·~bypotnania." !bey upe· Bear. __ iale prote.- 01 poyc'" c:ornspondence (oinc:t: . - dfCcI 01
Ihia Iype 01 epilepsy illo evolc ........
per CCftI of piaywriahll bad been deftned tertii "'~ a Yaridy" rie-Ifeal inc:.reases ill their -IllY Iry .... ............." a' Vondert>ih Uni
\rUled ror m.o,jor ~. __ til spedIIe·IMIIUIt ........
I.beir.wiIIjppess 10
risb. ~ty. Epi1cptic seizures ooxur 1ifIc. hiPlY idioOIynmtic wriIiII&I.
pwcdso$pcr_oIdlepralpop
PSlclliatrisci ~ t.IIIoI.. tIdIizo. It.eitelllOllooaliDl....ty.aadlllellll. wtIcII _thi.. eidler trigen, or bitt yean as apreadoer..... ~
uIaIiooI"
.. pbmIia weft . . . - 10 ..... _
idilY wid!wl\idl they cu lIIIke _ _ ditnilWCllhe inhibitioollO. "lire_
his IItIiquc UN 01 cdor IUId penpcc.
lots.. JamilOO Iw also delved iDlO called' "overioc:luuye Ihioti.... ; cilllions betW.,.1I 'disp&nl1C ideas. Iy rapid !Iring 01 electrical impulses live. Dr. Bee ays.
.
die ~c.1UId
health 01 matiaa _iaIioes berwom ,." n.o... are the """" thiDp IIIIlll\llllY • _
al'fecled nerve cell•. I. effect.
N~s1S eonpI\a5iu !hoot .......
are many diffcteftl c:ompooeau lID die
aniw 01 the 18110. 1'lUI•.1UId early tDOIelyCl'lllllCO;tedlbotlatlls.iWc...- t!tiftk art! inlrillSiClo IIIe proc:c:u 01 some of an epile",ic's brain cells all
20th cenluria. As far as $be knows. cnIizilla and o~. Some· . creatiq a wort 01 art.
be IIIoucht 01 as bei", "e.tra-ellci!·
artiSIM: 1C1: II1IIftUaI 'kiD. ~.
SJ!BIiaI NIIipulation. rec:aII til _
1Iow. it was 1IIoutIn•. ~
Many ani5ls appaready teaSe dlis 1IbIe:' Dr. Bear says.
lhere .vell()( bcaI lOy formal ..116
tioa.
ee-cric: DiMorti_
ies 10 pill down !be .....e ot'S<Jicide ·1JaiIJ like thole coUI prod\Icc ani.. · _1ioII. 8eliCYi", dial IIIe "I!..:h ani" has a pcnonaIlOOIldt
amoq ani.lS. Ne'YcnheleU. $be .. 1it: CfOCa1lvily•• : ':". , ~:
tllt::ircydes 01. eupboria ud deDr. AtIchuu did _ bel any en- spUr is the same wdlsprina
This. ill. sum. i, IIWIifeMed at 01 stilb thai aIIoon his an lID be
says, " it'. I .lrikilll pbenorite_."
"AU you have to do iltp doW'll a dc!Icc (or sch~ or IIlCIIUII iJI..' . ..tIidI dIeir creatiViIY ~ llley " P""'ICI' penonallnlensit)· ill • nu.... . sl.lmped with bis own iDdividuaol Cft
lis! 01 poets. wrilen. and otber
IICisn ocha' diu ...... mot deprn.- .~y rd'Itse _
Of di..
her oI ....ys: 51l'0III lemper. c:IwIIeS alivilY," itays Daniel Hier.
isis" and you wiI1 find a hislory 01 .. - atDOIl\I WritIn, .
. COIIlinue
dlerapy..
.. one' s ...ual feeli,.. _pened
roJotjll III die Michael R.:ae Wcdi
inslilUliollalizaIioto IUId Nicidn. Ms. .
If JIWIM: ~ Of 1csa ac_ . The efrcci 01 lilllium. the IIniI spiritualily..nd relillious conver
c:aJ Ccnle•.
· Jamisoo said.
. IIiootI .wi.., we .. ficl Yllldy ~ CCIIIIIftOIIIy. IIICd Ia IRal maaic deThis u",um in clllOlion. is
While lCie_ can Iell us ' - die
"The 1'lUI cenrury could euiJ,. be' _
IIDOIlI . . . . !MIl ..,..,.. . 'pr~. on aniSlic cnabvily ill _
t.ftow1Ias the "inleric:talsyadromc."
6t l"I'Ither and whIII: J....
fall 10 woct. lhe ..~
caJlc:d die manic -dcprewve CCIIIU.I')'.. people .ia 1lC~' dIt .
ia,.. CICar-:an.1(t Jtunison ...x.... L,idlium
WhaI Dr. Bear and ocben .... now wfte" _
people. . . . . .
because it's IiIIcd wid! people who. "Wlly1
.
. .~,. .'
does.ppcar 10 leM·!he· .....e al lqiMi.. to learn is Illal It:tIIpOraI. reasons why _
...ere illstilllliotWiud Cor ..vcre
which a paliellt makes usociatioas lobe epilepsy "actually caa creale. othen. become anillS i, liltely lID "..
maift beyond ita radI.
mood disorlkn." she added. Nota'DiII:nlptioa ad . .~' betwe... ideu. and IIIe ftWdity 01 '" _ . artislic cl'ealivify:' Dr.
bIe examples in this cenru:ry WOIIId
At a _ _ 08 IIIe creative miad slieb associIlions. itDponanl aspect,
include die Americu poe\l A.II.oe' 101: die _ _ Aa:ricaa Psydlialrit: 01 die creative procea. Theac 0CIIIIi
Sc._ IUId Sylvia PIatb. who bodI Aaociatioa
ill Su FfUCia.. Ii"" effect, are _
IIOCicabIe &I
CDIMIincd suicide followina rel&liY't- on ill Ma,. PMCIiI&I erped tbat III b.i&ber doMs.1UId can be aosily 1DOCIi·
...... c.fto. ..... '1'''"'' U. _
Iy briet'. almost explosive periods 01 IIIe beact 01 ..u.dc: eltpRSSion Iica tored throuab die ute 01 dally diaries
Pew
Trusts
~ty. '
pn:ICIIU 01 . . . . .' chaaaa ill 01 tDOOd. she
"""w._u.<lfV~"
NI!W HAVDI. COM".
tDOOd. ill ~ .. - V leY.
lhcoaestudy'od&leolmoredsul
~-._ _ _
.
De Plew Charitable TNSII 01
.... "The creMi""" ..-s iavolYea.. a Itaedt'IoI oIlIlIlSh, reponed ICYCraI
""iladelphia ba¥e naIDcd 20
lib. JamilOD's ftodinp pa.ra1Id a cyde 01 disrupt_ ... nHalqrarion yean.., by Moaeu Schou. a Ply·
you.. rescarchen II Pew Schof.
,Iudy 01 wrilen tbat _ widely reo
ift response 10 - ." aid Frederic cbialrisl theto 101: lhe AarlIus UDiycni
.
an ill die Biomedical Sc:ieDo:es.
_D._OoU 1.1.; ' " " _ .
poo1ed Us 19C'1. T1III study. Condliel· F. FIado. adjwlcul.tIOCiaIe prtieuc;r IY !aistilute 01 Psychialry ill Deft.
The scholan' pn.tpUlI WIll J. "'......,. -,.1.1. <If " ' _ -
ed by Naocy Andteasaa. profesoor 01 01 psychiatry 101: ComdI UDivmity 1IW'k. fOllncllhal die IIII\iOrity 01 an·
a~ each 01 the resean::hen a
__
psydlially Illbe Ullive",ty 01 Iowa
Medit:alCol'lqcillNcwYOttCity.lr i!.Is trealed willi lilhiwn ~
Iota! 01 S2OO.ooo over f_ yean•
CoIIqe 01 Medicine iD Iowa aly. . it is IrUe tbat thai cycle 0CCUtII ill .. beittc as proc!lietivc Of evea tDOI"C
..
FoIlowi", is a lill 01' the Iwanl _
looked for lI.IIy clillic:aJ .ymptoma 01a
01 us. .. Dr. FIacb erped .. die: productive wIlile t.akin& medicatioII
.., teM'Cii:"t ... ....., 01 ('. . . .
101_ _; _ _ •
recipieats. their instilutional atftJ· _L~~U._'"
meeti... it is alao IrUe tIIIoI some pco. 10 stabilize their moocb. Ho_. a
mood disorlkr (...well'. depn:s:Uoe.
iIII:loes.. and their fields 01 reo
fre.. subswllial minorit~ 01 t.bie 24
· or IIWIiL for e..mp!c)ill write" who pIo--«nist............, it _
_L-'-"U.;_
wwdI.
the JII'OC' _
~said thai the lilhiwD
had lIIended the well.knoWII 10_ quetltly. In some of
.. _ , _ _ <If.
. ...........
y....-L_.I.1.<If~ .. r...
Writen Work$hop. Sine!! manic de· eu 01 re.inlqralion ilia' diuuptioa oeptively d'ecIetI their wort.
pression is believed 10 have a JlCnetic
falb.. "Mental m-." suaated
"FromlbedlerapypoiDloI1riew.;·
.... _--,.u.<If~ .. _
besjs, Dr. Andreasan also Uster· . Dr. F1a<:h, "is a failure ill lhe........
104•. Jamisoa. "Ihe ct.hical_
,,;ewcd close relati.... oIlhe.writen. tioa oIlhis process."
cent is bow 10 awilltiu c~.
" - - ...... ~I.I . .iiI. .
., Tee"""""':
~
She fOWld tbat 4) per ce':I\ oldie wril'
Ns. Jamisoa says dIIcrc ill ". wide kec!I die pmoa withiD a ftOw 01
__ ,."._
el'S IUId U per cent 01 their relatives n.np 01 reuou" ...." ~... tDOOds tbat is comfortable. . . . ,..
had had ,ymptocns of manic deprn. preuive
II\iiIII be aD doIcIy mittimizc the pein. Manic: depres.Sioe
- , c. ".
..
sioD.
'.
lied Ia anislic ptOducIic& Ie iI well. iI a IetIl8l diICue. IUId it sIIooIId _
Wbco Dr. AIIII.Rasu embNted 08 kDowtt - . . pis)'dIiIIriaU diu be _ticWld...
.
IIer ~
she _ iIIlCI' . . . people willi ... ........ . .
--cMMIlAY_O
COffti_lItdf,_ I'rrudj",
· lilcnlly behave at Ihouah die left
side 01 space doc$n', Cldl."
Dr. Rou .poke II a symposium in
CM::aco WI' yeU 011 an and ,he
.ucc..
.y.
et·.
sPe
I""".
me
Researchers Linl. Manic-Depressive Illness and Creativity
f'-
llil~-:oms~
a
PfOIICh
'*
s-..........
me..w
"'''''f!
an·
rrom
me __
cIru.
w.-.
Part.
....,uoa.
-m.
Fellowships and Awards
a,...
me
Charitable
-._;--_
--....--
~-
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_ ..
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,.,.,.
....
;
.
.
.....-..
a
~
...
......
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....
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"--'
JUM 21,1989 • ~ Cbrooick of HigheT EdllOlt.ion •
,--------------------
well e.plain _
of van Goih's boolS
wilh halluo;inalions as well as his allempls .
10 eal his paints. >.Iys Mr. Arook!. Many
paints and varnishes contain chemicals
closely relaled 10 Ihujone.
"My workinl hypothesis is Ihat halluci
nations mi,I" possibly have given van
Goah a different perception of color and
relation&hips between objeclS," says Mr.
Arnold, "You can see some of lhal in his
chc*:e ~ palette in his 6na1 period," he
adds. at wdI as UK of "inleresting and
unusual per!9CCtive."
Mr. Arnold acknowledses that lhe
chanale ill venue to lhe soulil of F!'IUIU
may abo bave ia/!ueno;ecl van Goah' s s.hift
10 briatUt. aaoR i!ltcnse colon.
R..aca 01 AkohoIA.bate- " ,
. lacksoa PoOock··s abstract upo1!ssioft;.
ism. pu1ic:uIar1y bill .. automatic "Ieeh
nique ~ drippilll painl on the canvu.
_wbile. _y have ,*,n inllueno;ecl in
pan by the aeuroIogic:aI rav.s ofakohol.
accordina to AnuINo R. Damasio.
.
Dr, 0amasi0.1IeId of the dcpa.nment of
neul'tlloo- a&..~ UDivenity of Iowa Col·
kte of Medicine in-kiWti't;Ity, has
,'. '
Pollock', wOrt from the perspective of
. copitive science. Pollock wu hospital·
ized se venl times fot alcohol abuse, and
'even received electroshock Irt!atment,
Dr. Dounasio points to IWO
ill
which chrooic: aIc:oboI use can·deet the
bniill, One is 10 "lIIler the balua:.oI' ps~._ ..
choloaical pn><:esta.- he Says. iDCrUSina
the !low cllmaciDalion but also cloudin,
clarity. T1Ic second is directly 10 destroy
IIC1VC coIb in uy parts of the brain u..
volYCd in -IIkWY, cognition, aDd move
mem, includ.ina !be cerebnll CorIeI, the
thalamus, and the hippocampus, '
What incn,s- Dr: Damasio iSlbat the
.... at Pollock', technique of automatic·
ity-in whicb he triCe! to establish a din:><:t
COftn«tion bet..._ the canvu and the UDo
reasoned impulses at his' unconscious
min6-fnay bave been abetted by, CH' al
Ic:aIl c:onpvenl with. Ihe neuroJog;cal ef·
fects of akoIIoI abuse. By letlinllloof c0n
scious control. Pollock opened the way for
the more primilive rilythms of lower brain
activily thai oorinaJJy do nOl elpress lhem·
>elves u<:epe during sexual pLssioos,
. drealM, or mind Slates induced by brain
disease thai datnase. part of the cerebral
conu;. Dr. Damasio has al'lued.
..aYI
Eft'rcta of ~
While ak:obol ...orks slowly, slroke
moves swiftly. Throughout the 1950's and
60's, ReynokiBrown's chaolic and highly
detailed imaces graced Ihe posters fCH' hun
dreds of Hollywood movies, from Dr. Zhi
valO to TM 1N:"dibl, Shrin~nl Malt. In
1976. Mr, Brown had a stroke that affected
the parietal lobe in the right hemisp/lerc of
his brain, leavina his left side paralyzed. AI
a&e~. he was fon:ed 10 become uclusive·
ly ri&ht handed. and had to try 10 repin the
line motor slill. thai had helped him to
read! the pinnacle as a poster illustrator,
Nt, B/'OWII" carty work followiq his
stroke &lIIO.Po-t one of the classic silins '
~ dansap 10 !be rip( hemisphere of his
braitI. WhidI IrIIIISIated in hi, potICfI 10
.... blank ....- Oa die left side of the
eM.....
- "Wida. rilbl-tide Iaioa, 'IlleR is ilKred
IIIe IIf.IIec:t cI!be left side ~ $pICC," says
EIIion O..... auociaIe profess« o f _
roIocJ and ,pqchiaIIy III the Univcnily of
TCaM Healtli sae- Ceater, "People
CmtIIIuu4 Oft FoIJowu., 1'41'
AS
RESEARCH NOTES
scientists belie'e they range from a few
times to 80 !tme"the 'm"",
Jupiler.
Beccuse bro"'n d",arf, are also'
thought to evolve quickly, 10''"8 their
brightness rapidly, tlleY are believed to
be cltnemely difficult to detcc!.
Usinllhe N"tional Aeronautics and
Space Adminislnf;oo'S Infrared Tele·
.cope Facility 00 Mauna Ke.a, Hawaii.
Mr. Forrest and his colle~s pointed
an infrared ClUT'lera toward a section of
the Taurus coculellalion known to
lain very youna stan with lhe hope of
finding youna. bripl brown dwarfs,
What they found were Dille objects
lining the description 0( a brown dwarf.
but with relativdy low masses. rangina
from 5 to 20 times the mass of Jupiler.
Sinu most· scardIcs for brown
dw,,"s have focused on those that an:
mIH'e massi ve and, mus, I'IlOte lumi
nous, Mr. F'arresI sa.id he suspected,
Ihat much of die uni.ene mipt contain
lower-mass broWD dwarfs thal as yel
'have been undetected.
_,A.W
or
c-:
InIt rubblnc ilion lie Inside (ricIId and outIIde of an ancient
~ 1Ct.ntim to PUle lie .peed of E.ar1h', rotdon.
. . UMd
Astronooim Say Ancient Clue
Shows Earth's Spin Has Slowed
Dine: die
ruler for wborn the oracle
bOOt was pt-eparec!.
, -KIW A. WcDOMAt.D
A leam of ulronomers has deter·
mined how mueh Barth's rotalion has
Astronomers Find Evic:tence
slowed dow1I durina the past 3,200
of UousWa! 'Brown Dwarfs'
yean by using lUI ulW5Ual source of in
Asl rOnome rs last wee k reponed that
formation-an ancient 0ra.:1e, bone
they mi8hl have discovered a number of
once believed in China to be able 10
Attitudes T~~A'~thor'sUf~~'
sub-stellar objects known as browII
forelell day-lO-d;ly evenu.
Can Assist 'Canonizatioo'
dwarl's. with p"openics thai luge"
""~"'-iI!.tjgftOft IlK (I_Ie
'The symbolic importance lhat later
bone..:..aciuaJly,
-orfoi'f~1
fIoa(such ~ts .l!U'ybe II--.: ubiqui
devolees a"ached 10 Henry Da.id 1'110
lous in Ihe universe tfiiiiiliajj 1lnn be·'
used by seen duons China's Shang Dy.
reau's retreat to Walden Pond may have
lieved,
nasly in lhe I«h cenlury •.c.-the &.5
as muo;h 10 do with his place in the liter
William I, Forrest,. professor
tronomc:n IIxcd lhe date and path of.
ary canon 3.5 does the assessment of his
physics and astronomy at the Universi
solar eclipse_n inChina in 1302 •. c,
wriuc:n works, SAyS a literature sc:hoI...
ty of Rochester, announo;ecl!be fi~
·ThIIl. illlUI'II. helped tt.em 10 deter-,
at Obir1in Co/Iete,
mine thaTlIIClliilgfh"l1t each dey . wall
,at a meeting 0( the Americ:an Astt'OllOlll
In lhe May issue of A""ricalt Li,na
aI Society at the i.JniYcinityofM~
forty.seven OM thousandths of a sec·
l.awre~ Buell ilflllJed that the
ond sfIoneriR l102a,c.!han it iSlOOay.
gall III Ann Arbor. He said he aDd bit
"canonization" of a lilerary work c.an
'Therelllk, conSBtenl with other _ coIJeasues aI Rochntet. lhe University
be assisted'by rituals and allltudes thai
. f MassachuKII.. at Amhersl, and lhe'
o
$ludics of ancient «Iipses. was repon·
University of Hawaii had found nine . build up around the ... riter and lhe
. ed laSt week ai a meeling of the Ameri
objects, which they believe to tie brown ' ,places associated with his CH' her life, .
can Astronomical Sociely by Kevin D,
In 18504. Thoreau published what is
dwarl's, in a pat1 of lhe Taurus constel
Pans, an Ulronomer at the California
now considered his masterpiece. 11'0/·
Institute of Technoloey's Jet Propul·
lation that is located '.50 lighl-years
dft•. or. Lil, u. ,11, WOO<U, In thecentu
from Earth.
'
sion Labonf(H'y.
ry and more since then, Mr. Buell said.
Brown dwarl's are believed by Ulron
Workin. with Mr. Palla were HunS
Walden Pond has become a place of pil
omen 10 be lhe smallest slar-like forms
hsiang Chou, a professor of East Asian
pirnage, Thon:au has come 10 be re
Languages at the U nivenit)' of Califor
crealed from intentellar clouds of ps,
, prde<! as a lUnd of saint, and his _
at Los Angeles: KeviD Yau. a pIIysi
Althoup no such object hu conc:Iu
.ively been identified as a brown dwwf,
ciSl al Durflam University' in EnsJand:
COllli"""d"" Pal' A7
John A. Banaen of the U. Naval ()b. ,
servalory: and Dharam v, Ahluwalia. a
malhematician al the Jet Propulsion
l.aborat(H'y ,
'The oracle bone was among 25,000
inscribed shells that ....ere elcavated
from Anyang. lhe capital offhe Shang
Dynasly in ancient China, aboot 300
miles southwesl of Beijing, On the
bone. researchers found the inscription
of Ii diviner's question aboot lhe 52nd
day of the eakndars),stem used in Chi
na and Iheevenl5 of that day in which, il
stales: "Three ftames ate the sun and
big stan were seen, ..
'The ulronomersconcluded tbat only
8 Iolal ec;lipse of the sun would allow
stars to be seen during the da)' and
make il appear that "flames." or coro
nal streamers. had eaten the sun.
Using a computer model of Eanlfs
rOiation. the aslronomers then deter·
mined ho... fall Earth must have been
, spinnill8 for sud! an eclipse to be" seen
from AnYlUlloathatday.IfEanh·sro
lalion were
or slowa'. Mt. !'ana
uplained. the eclipse palb would have
been moved to the east or WCS!, and
woold 001 han been observed in A.
.•.
arW«c
at '
'.lft'.
i
nia
s.
ruler
)'line.
Mt, Pang said lhe study should &Iso
be useful 10 Mlorians bc:c:ause it sets III
eoact date for the reip ~ Kin, Wu
~aunwt1h .... lnfrwed _
. . . a .......
Iiop) and twa - ' " b _ dnrfI ......... hi lie Ta_ ~
d:tcib;:'ct7'
�·.~
."
.i
".'
Tempo
([hicagotI'ribune
Wednesday, May 4,1988
An artist with epilepsy depicts what she sees during. a seizure.
Meeting of. minds
Science and a~t e~plore the
.,biological basis ~fcreativity
�By Peter Gomer
atastrophe in the brain-a
tumor, a seizure, a stroke- .
may erase tl1e power of speech,
of movement. of mind.
Cnaclvsm in the brain of a
visual anist -may annihilate anistry.
)'ct rrom human suffering
knowledge sometimes comes. about
the nature of the brain. and of the
;misl.
Such thinking pervades ".-\n and
the Brain," a pioneering national
conference exploring the biological
basis of creativity, to be held May
I 2-14 at the An Institute of
Chicago.
\Vhich bram systems.suppon .
creath-itv? How is an defined and
evaluated? How is anwork changed
bv brain disease? Are the brains of
artists different from those of writers,
musicians, mathematicians,
politicians. athletes? New findings in
the brain sciences have led experts to
believe that inborn talents are based
on specific neural pathways molded
through nature and nunure.
.
"Neurologists today believe that
people differ by the way their brains
are organized and how they
function," says Dr. Daniel Hier,
chief of neurology at Michael Reese
, Hospital and ~ledical Center, a
sponsor of the symposium. with the
School of the An Institute.
.
"The idea of different brains is
louchy." Hier emphasizes. "ltgoes
directly against one of the fondest .
notions in our culture: that anyone
can do. or be. anything he wants, so
long as he is willing to work hard
enough.
"Cenainlv, education makes a
dilference. do personality,
uphringing and luck. But it seems
obvious to me that people possess
inherited abilities that are
independent of evel)'thing else.
. "The question becomes: What is
1he neurological basis of inborn
talent? Is it a maHer or how the
brain cdlsand svstems are
connected and the ways they
interact? If so, \~e now have the
scientific abilitv to look at such
things."
'
The latest research from' a wide
range of disciplines will be presented
at the conrerence by nearly two
dozen leading specialists in the
ncuros..::iences; an history, therapy
and education; psychiatry and
developmental psychology; cultural
anthropology; and speech pathology
and learning disabilities.
C
as
Guest lecturers include Harvard
. psychologist Howard Gardner, noted
for many educational theories,
including the controversial idea thai
people possess several kinds of
intelligence that are unmeasurable by
. standard IQ tests; psychiatrist Nancy
Andreasen, of the Universitv of,
Iowa. who has documented"the
surprisinglv high rate of manic
depression" among writers; and
California an educator Betty
Edwards, author of "Drawing on the
RightSide of the Brain."
Sixty drawings and paintings by' 13
brain-<iamagedartists (works created
before and after their illnesses) win
be on display. Ironically, it is the
.
extraordinary drawing talent of visual
anists that makes them so interesting
. to brain scientists. A normal, healthy
anist displays fluency in too many
areas for scientists to isolate and
study specific abilities. But when
something goes awry in an mist's
brain, the damage shows up much
more dearly than in ar:twork by the
untutored and untalented.
The brain's wiring is. in effect,
parallel, like . sets of Christmas tree
lights, Hier explains. "You can
remove one light, and"others still
function. If brain damage occurs
when you have a tumor or a stroke,
one strand of wires has broken. The
rest of your brain still works. One
system is affected, usually, and that
gives us insights into what the
system really does."
Talent in visual m is believed to
stem from the right side of the brain,
as has been intriguingly
.
demonstrated by a suburban Chicago
woman whose recovery from a •
stroke inspired the "An and the.
Brain"conference.
Fourteen years ago, Carol Frankel
was a carefree 20-year-old college
student hoping to become a
schoolteacher. Then she suffered a
stroke in her left, or dominant,' .
cerebral hemisphere.
The hemorrhage paralyzed the.
right side of her body. She also lost.·
the ability to speak-Broca's
aphasia, this is called. for the 19th
Century French anthropologist and
pioneering surgeon, Paul Broca,
whose studies of live patients and
dead brains led him to believe he
had localized the brain area
responsible-Jor speech and language
ability.
.
Broca was quite precise about the
turf he staked out-the posterior .
portion of the third convolution of
the frontal lobe of the left cerebral
hemisphere in a right-handed person.
Damage this area, he said, and you
lose language.
Frankel worked tirelessly with her
therapists-speech, occupational,
physical-to try to regain what she
had lost. Because she could no
longer speak. her mother suggested
she take an lessons. Perhaps painting.
could provide her with a means by
which to express her feelings.
Whereupon something remarkable
occurred.
A neophyte anist. a right-hander
forced to hold the brush in her left
hand, Frankel began to paint
landscapes, and they weren't bad.
They were sci good, in fact. that
Andrea Gellin Shindler, Frankel's
speech therapist at Reese, grew
fascinated.
"Her oils looked incredible to me,"
says Shindler. now a research
associate in ncurology at the
hospital. "Carc~ had shown no
aptitude for painting before the
stroke. Yet hx)Ujdn't do with m'v
right h~ whatsbe was doing with
her left.
"OYer the yean. she has become
a completdy functioning woman
again, although She continues to
have significant difficulties in spef;ch
and mobility."
'
Frankel's newfound form of ex
pression gave credence to the theory
that the left side of the brain is
dominant in most people; that it is
the seat of language and the ability .
to symbol~; that it thinks verbally,
searches for ways to lump and sim
plify and likes to organize thought
iii a linear fashion.
,
NonnaUy, the left brain suppress
es the right, which is believed to be
more abstract, emotional and non
. Iincar; enjoys seeking out complexi
ties; and thmks in terms of images,
not words.
Yet in some people, the right
brain overcomes the dominance of
the left and gives them a special tal
ent for perception, especially for ob
serving the relationships of objects
in space.
The pop psychology simplifica
tion-the right-versus-Ieft-brain the
ory-has tended to mask one of the
great enigmas of brain science. Vis
ual-motor skiDs are crucial to visual
artists and are either innately supe
rior in them or highly developed.
, But do artists excel because of an
unusual brain? Or have their brains
become unusual as they have excef
led? The classic nature-nurture clash
continues to spark debates over
creativity,·even as scientists refine
their s.k:ilIs at spottiJl8 areas relevant
to talents and abilities in human
brains.
i .. :(·, '.
�. WbeD an iDdividuaI (.-tilt or
gIIined ~ of biI *ill. thouIb his
norwtist) ..... c:IIunIIIe to the Iirlft
wort becmie JDUCb more abItract
hemilphere.· hilt ~ ~nes more
and lost detail. leaving him fiustrat
simplified and c!illdl1k~, yet d:te
ed and unfulfilled.
overall contour IS reta.med. Right- .
However, a disastrous dementia,
hemisphere dam3lJe, howev~~, often
such as severe Alzheimer's disease,
leaves the artist With the ablhty to
causes most brain functions to
render details but unable to o~
break down.
ize them into a single compositIOn,
In a rare instance, researchers
only into fragment~ or, irregular
have been able to chart the dramat
contours, The orgamzatIon of space
ic decline of intelligence in an artist
becomes disoriented,
,
'
over several years. It is chilling.
Yet f':li more th::tn the nght brain
At age 67, the man's personali~
is involved in the ma.iJ;;g,of an art
changed. His memory began to fatl,
ist. Most parts of our brams are m~
and he became irritable, stubborn
tcracting at every instant.
and suspicious. A diagnosis of Al
"If you're an artist," Hier says"
zheimer's followed. For the next'
"you need the limbic system,whlch
. three years;'nowever, h~s artwork .
is involved in memory and affect
still demonstrated conSiderable skill
[emotionJ, The frontal lobes pro
in shading. coloration. depiction,
vide motivatIOn-in order to create,
perspective. proportion and bal~ce.
.
you must be motivated to do so.
By age 74, however:-se,:en years
The reticular system m the bratn
after onset-the detenorauon of a
stem keeps you alert. The motor
dying brain was clearly evident in,
cortex allows you to draw; ,the
the Alzheimer's patient The moti
premotor cortex and sUP:enor
vational. organizational and execu
parietal lobe store the skill pro
tive levels of functioning were wiped
grams that let you control the
out first, f?lIow~ ~du~ly by the
movements when you draw or
Visual-spatial abtllUes. HIS art re
paint. The visual cortex ,Ie~ you
veals a loss of detail,absence of
see, and the visual association
perspective and simplification.of
cortex processes what you see.
color choice. He no longer patnted
"You need the frontal parts, of the
with oils and refused to try. He was
brain [on both, sides1 that ..~re In
unable to vary his themes and pro-.
volved in creatmg, supervlsmg,
du~ only ~pied versions of his
planning and innovating. We also
prevIOUS patnt;lOgs.
.,
think that the language area ~n the
His art lost Its representatiOnal
left side contributes by aI,loWing you
. style. It became "impressi0!'ris
to symbolize, And there ~s !l net
tic,"-a term of art, not SClence-:
work on both sides that IS mvolved
featuring simpler themes. executed
in directed attention-it allows you
in far less literal fashion. The whole
to explore both sides of space and
feeling is looser, freer-flowing, more
utilize them,"
abstract.
Nonetheless, the art of Reynold
This style nonetheless has been
Brown, which will be displayed at
universally preferred by art experts
the conference, demonstrates how,
who have examined the Alzheimer's
crucial the right brain is to an, artiSt.
patient's output. The phenomenon
Brown, 69, spent much ?f hiS ca
is not new. Vincent Van Gogh's ~
reer as the premier poster Illustrator
called "Asylum paintings.» ~!"e
in Holhwood, renowned for "pow
while confined as a psychottc 10
.::rhouse, impossibly chaotic imag~
southern France, are often con
of panic and mayhem rendered With
sidered to be his boldest. most emo
incredible detail," in the words of a
tional and visionary works.
tim magazine. His ~ork enhv~ned'
"In ,the case of the Alzheimer pa
more than 250 mOVie campatgns
tient," .neurologist ~ier notes, ",sci;
''The Creature from the Black ,la
ence says this man IS clearly g!>mg
goon." ''The Incredible ~hnnkin~,
downhill, yet art ex~rts sa-r hIS
Man," "Cat on a Ho~ Tm"Roof,
work is much more mterestmg.
"Sparticus." "Dr, Zhlvago -the
How does that relate to an out
list seems endless,
,
standing artist?
When Brown suffered a stroke on
"It reflects, I think, our resJ?CCt
the right side \9f his brain. his left .
for things that are novel and mno
side was totally paralyzed, ,Left
vative. Critics rarely prefer a craftshanded. he had to teach hImself to
manlike job. "
.
draw with his right hand. Because
"Brain damage can indeed make
his brain could not process space to
you see things differently. If a
his left. his paintings had gaPI!,g
healthy artist sets out to do som,e
holes of blank space on that SIde.
thing different, he I!lay through 10
Such "neglect" is not uncommon to
spiration and expenence create
a stroke victim. who may comb
. great art. But painting of high~r .
only one side of his hair or shave
quality also may occur by aCCIdent,
only one side of his face.
.
through the disruption of nonnal '
Brown eventually learnt:d to cu~
systems.
himself to fill in the left Side of hiS
drawings. Over 10 years, he re
"This is not through conscious
will or throuIb efforu of ~ frontal
lobes [areas of highet:' learm~] of
the brain. The Alzheimer patient
was trying to draw the same way he
had before. His system coul~n't do
it. He failed. Yet th~. resu.!t IS
esthetically pleas1Og.
,,'
The evaluation of creatlVlty IS a ,
key feature of the work
Harvard s
Howard Gardner, who Will address
the Chicago conference at 9:30 a,m,
on May 12. About 500 people, are
expected to attend the ~ymposlUm,
including artiStS. physlclan~. educa
tors, students and the pubhc, (l~for·
mation may be obtamed by callmg
Andrea Shindler at 791. 4481 ); ,
Gardner recogniz~ sev~n dlstmct
talents, or forms of mtelhgen~. that
people have. He is harshly cntIcal
of IQ tests because they measure
only one or two of them. .
Some people, Gar«;tner ,sa~, are
innatdy linguistic, With dJscr:'I~!na
ling language skills, and sensItivity
to the subtle mean10gs of w<?rds.
Others are logical-mathematical.
abilities that have long been m,ea
sured ,on IQ tests. Inborn mUSical
intelligence sho~s ul? e:arty and IS
expressive, like hngulstlc talent.
Painters and sculptors possess spa
tial intelligence and can re;;reate
forms in space that nonartlsts are
unable to detect. Athletes have
bodily kinesthetic intelligence,
Gardner says.
,
Politicians, espeCIally. demon
strate what Gardner call~ m~eTP:er- .
sonal intelligence. They mstmc~vely
react to the subtle moods and 10
tentions of others. Finall~, Gardner
says, people can possess mtraper
sonal talent. Those who do know
and understand themselves very :-veil
and are able to capitalize on their
strengths and avoid their weak
,
or
nesses.
"Freud and Picasso afford us ,r..vo
verv different examples of creatl~- .
~ ,f Gardner says. "Freud combmed
~guistic, 10gi~ and ,intrape~nal
intelligence. HIS creatIve contnbu
tion came because he was able to
blend them together.
"Picasso had spatial, bodily
kinesthetic and more intenx:r
sonal-a greater understandmg of
the wants and needs of oth~rs..
"I would argue that creative in
dividuals differ from on~ another.
but in terms of personall~y ~d ,mo
tivation, they may be qUIte slmtlar.
"Both Freud and Picasso were ex
tremely ambitious, self-co~fident.
hard-working and able to Ignore
criticism. They both ~ other
people and cast them aside w~e~
they were done with them. ~U1cides
may be attributed to both Picasso
and Freud."
.
,.
-.1'"
.;'.....
�Creative people. Gardner says.
must work ill a "domain" that is
'",,:.
./.\
".
'
.
.,,,,l....,.,
The deb rio ration of an
artist with Alzheimer's
disease. At onset.
'86-8 years past onset.
accepted by ~ as worthwhile.
. "It's an argument against the idea
. that people are generally 'creative.
Picasso was creative in painting.
Freud drifted from one domain to
the next-philosophy, medicine,
neurology. anatomy, psychiatry
and never reaI1y fit in. So he created
his own domain-psychoanalysis." .
Creativity abhors a vacuum,
Gardner says. "In an area like .
painting, what I call the 'field' IS
tremendously important. Gallery
owners, critics. Consumers all decide
whether you~1I be noticed or not. In
any field, there are individuals who
are doing their own things; they're
working and a few of them get
picked out as being meritorious.
Very few of these end up redefining
what the domain is. So painting is
different after Picasso, psychology is
different after Freud, physics is dif
ferent after Einstein."
The next genetation of young
talents will master a different
domain, one that has been affected
lry the work of the creative iri
'87-decline continues.
'85-Critics hailed this
attempt though the disease
was progressing.
dlviduals. Thus to understand
creativity, one must look at the in
teractions among taJent, structures'
of knowledge, and the judges, or in
stitutions, Gardner says.
.
In a creative individual, various
taJents mesh in a manner that
Gardner calls "a fruitful dishanno
ny..
"If the creative tension inside the
individual, and between the individ
Ual and his domain,isn't too great,
the artist may create somethina
worthwhile. When Freud couldn't
oonnect with the domain that exist
ed, he created his oWn. Picasso's
domain was given to him by his
fatbar, a painter. But Picasso's set
of intelligences were unusual. He
didn't do well in scholastic studies,
. so he moved to the ~phic. He 00
.came the best artist 10 Spain,
whereupon he. moved to France and
became somewhat estranged.
"I believe you could apply this
theory of fruitful disharmony with
any creative individual. The trouble
is, the theory is too easily proved .
correct, and I don't think we under
stand it yet. Did these people have
a nccrd to deal with disharmony. or
was the disharmony something that
came about because they had a
.greater understanding of them
sehu?" .
.
The theory,. however, separates
truly aeaUve peoP.,ie from those
who are merdy gifted or taiented.
Gardner says.
�\
"
"Freud was always uncomfortable
when people
Vttere too ~"
he says. "Freud always was raising
the ante. He once toured the Unit
ed States with Carl Jung. Freud
didn't like this country and quickly
went back to Austria, but Jung was
lionized and had a wonderlbl time
here.
"He sent telegram to Freud:
'Wonderlbl news. Psychoanalysis is
great success in America.'
"Freud. though, wired back:
'What did you leave out?' "
Picasso was always changing his
style as weU. "He never wanted to
be happy by doing the same old
thing."
Gardner calls the Chicago confer
ence "the beginning of a conversa
tion between two thriving disci
plines-the arts and sciences-that
haven't talked much to each other
before.
"The two areas, though, are on
the final frontier.
.
"In the sciences, we might say
that the discoveries of physics and
biologists into the nature of life
have turned the crucial comer in
this century. Exploration of the
mind is the last frontier.
"And I think we'll know a lot
more about how the mind works
after this conference than we did
before."
a
,
.
-~
�THE FOUNDATION FOR HUMAN POTENTIAL
�.·.~a
She's
old?
DailYHerald
Wednesday, April 19, 1995
She's 85, an avid runner and a good example of that mysterious
connection between mind and movement
BvToM VALEO
Daily Herald StAff Writer
wenty years ago, when Anne
Clarke retired at the age of
65, she decided to spend
some of her. new-found free
, time on 'exercise - an activ-'
ity she had neglected all her life.
"My mother thought little girls
, should just sit in a chair and rock their
dolls," she said.
She signed up for an exercise course
at the Ryall YMCA in Glen Ellyn, and
dutifully went through the motions,
but when the instructor told the class .
to go outside and run, Clarke balked .
"I definitely did not want to run," she
said. "When I didn't show up for the
next class, the instructor came to my
house on her motorcycle and took me
to the y, I decided-if she cared enough
about me to do that, I would stick with
it."
Clarke decided to buy a good pair of
shoes and give running a try. She
would go out early in the morning so
no one would see her jog, and it was a
year-and·a-half before she could run a
mile, but she kept at it because it was
making her feel so much better, Her
arthritis disappeared, and so did the
bursitis in her shoulder. Her blood
pressure, which had been slightly ele
vated. dropped back into the normal
range, and she lost the few extra
pounds she had been carrying.
But more than that, she felt much
better mentally. "I was just a happier
person," Clarke said.
By the time she was 69, she was run
ning three miles a day, and she derid
ed to enter the Bonne BelllUK race in
Chicago.
"I ran so hard I almost broke down,"
she said, "but I was so thrilled that I
finished. We went out to dinner at a
restaurant and I wore my number, I
T
"
'~""
..... .. J
,
.....
-
\~\
,
..
'Il'
'
Anne Clarke takes a fitness class at Windsor Park Manor In Cerol Stream.
S POTLIGHT
·'DUPAGE
ON
"Iconald.r my"lf addicted
to runnln•• but I 10". my
addiction...
- Anne Clarke
was IIOproud of it."
The experience was so gratifying
that Clarke began entering races
every few weeks, and has completed
more than 500, including eight
marathons.
In one of those races - a 10- kilome
ter in Chicago - she passed Andrea
Gellin Shindler, a woman half her age,
who was startled to see a woman with
white hair streaking toward the finish
line. Shindler considered herself
strictly a recreational runner who was
not the least bit competitive, but when
Clarke passed her she thought; "I can
at least beat HER!"
But she couldn't.
"I really tried but I just couldn't
catch her," Shindler recalls. "She was
really moving."
Shindler never forgot that experi
ence, and when the time came to
assemble speakers for a symposium
titled "Sports. Dance, Movement and
the Brain," she invited Clarke to par
ticipate.
•••
The symposium, which will be held
this weekend at the Art Institute of
Chicago, is the third that Shindler has
organized. Her first, "Art and the
Brain," in 1988, attracted artists,
teachers, psychologists, neurologists
"
See RUNNER on Page 2
�RUNNER~
85-year-old is an inSpiration
Continued from Page 1
Anne Clarke to speak at seminar
.~
and many others from all over the
nation .
Anne Clarke will speak at the
One of the speakcrs was
·Sports, Dance, Movement and
Howard Gardner, a cognitive sci·
the Brain" symposium at 10:50
entist from Harvard who wrote
a.m. Saturday.
"Frames of Mind: The Theory of
She will appear on a panel
Multiple Intelligences," published
with two others: Bonnie
in 1983. In the book Gardner ar·
Frankel, who, as a 49-year-old
gues that intelligence isn't a sin·
college student, ran on the
gle ability of the brain; rather, it is
track team; and Joseph Maw,
divided into at least seven distinct
author of "Dance is a Contact
skills:
Sport» and "Prime Movers:
• Intrapersonal (how well we
The Makers of Modem Dance."
deal with ourselves).
The symposium also will fea
ture nearly two dozen neu
• Interpersonal (how well we
rologists, {lhysiologists.
deal with others).
psychologiSts, dancers and
• Bodily/kinesthetic (how well
others who will speak on the
we can movel.
way the brain orchestrates
complex movement.
• Spacial (how well we sense
The featured speaker is Anto
the space around us).
nio Dama:;io, a neurologist at
• Logical/mathematical.
the University of Iowa who,
with his wife. Hannah Dama
• Musical.
sio, has used CAT scans to
• Linguistic.
identify where and how the
Shindler was so impressed with
brain performs some or its
Gardner's thesis that she created
most mysterious functions. .
the Foundation for Human Poten
Damasio recenUy published a
tial and decided to hold a sympo·
book titled "Descartes' Error:
sium every few years, devoted to
Emotion, Reason, and the
one of Gardner's seven types of
Human Brain," in which he
intelligence.
demonstrates that the body
and the mind are intimately
. The second, held in 1992, was.
linked.. even thou~h we tend to
titled "Music and the Brain," and
expenence consciousness as
the third, being held April 21·23, is
something separate and
devoted to movement, especially
autonomous from our physical
dance and athletics.
Shindler has assembled psy
chologists, neurologists, dancers, 'could think better, learn better
coaches
and an 85-year·old and remember better," Clarke
runner named Anne Clarke - for . said, "Things just seemed easier
the purpose of exploring how the forme."
brain produces highly complex
Just recently, this strong con
and controlled movement
nection between her mind and her
body was demonstrated to her in a
Anne Clarke is a good example . less pleasant way.
Shortly after her husband died
of the mysterious connection be·
tween mind and movement. When in January, Clarke fractured her
fool. She wasn't running at the
Clarke first took up exercise, her
time; she was merely doing noor
mind pushed her body.
Her reason convinced her that exercises at one of thc classes she
running was a good thing for her teaches.
"But I was so tense and I had so
health. Her will kept her focused
on the task, and even her emo· much on my mind," she said. "I
wasn't relaxed, and I think that's
tions played a part
what did it. I was
"Pride was a big part of my stress, and stress is'under a lot of
the worst dis
motivation," Clarke said. "I would
feel so proud whenever I complet· ease there is."
The injury didn't slow her down
eda race."
much, howevcr.
While recuperating with a walk·
But after running for a while,
this process started working in ing cast on her foot, she would do
both directions. and her body upper body exercises while sitting
started to rejuvenate her. mind. "I in the recliner in her apartment at
•••
existence.
Some of the presentations at
the symposium will get rather
technical. Michael Merzenich,
for example. from the Universi
ty of California at San "'rancis·
co, will discuss "Cortical Mech·
anisms Contributing to Skill
Acquisition and to Practice- .
Induced Dysfunction."
But the speakers will try to
be accessible to the layperson,
says Andrea GeDin Shindler,
who organized the symposium.
"Sports, Dance, Movement
and the Brain" will be held in
the Rubloff Auditorium of the
Art Institute, on the east side
or the building facing Colum
bus Drive at Monroe Street.
The·full registration fee is
$225, but a reduced fee of $135
is available to students, med.
icw residents and senior citi
lens.
Registration begins at 7:45
a.m. on Friday with the wel
coming address at 9 a.m, Ses·
sions on Saturday are from 9
a.m, to 4:30 p.m., and on Sun
day from 9 a.m, to :I p.m.
For information, call Joanne
Donda at the School of the Art
Institute, (312) 345·3516. <Fax:
(312) 541-8063)
-TomValeo
Windsor Park Manor in Carol
Stream.
"I moved as much as I COUld, but
it was an awful period." she said.
The day she had the cast
removed, the doctor told her she
could walk, but she should take it
easy. She started walking immedi
ately, "but I was careful; I listen to
my body," she said.
What her body told her was that
walking felt just fine, so she
walked down to the dining hall
that evening. "And it didn't hUrl,"
. Clarke intends to keep running,
"but I'm only going to do SK races
from now on," she promised. "I'm
85 after all, and I don't want to
hurt myself. Besides, I'm not
interested in times anymore. I'm
just glad to be running. Some
times when I'm out running, I'll
think, 'how beautiful this is; how
good lIeeL' I consider myself ad·
dicted to running. but I love my
addiction."
:l
A
II
s
�ANDREA GELLIN SHINDLER
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
MARCH, 1996-PRESENT
POSITION
OCTOBER
1990~PRESENT
RUSH MEDICAL COLLEGE
DEPARTMENT OF NEUROLOGICAL SCIENCES
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Visiting Instructor
THE FOUNDATION FOR HUMAN POTENTIAL
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
POSITIONc Executive Di·rector and Founder
Director, Sports, Dance, Movement and the
Brain: A symposium (1995) ~ PRESENTED BY: The
Foundation for Human Potential and The
School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
SPONSORED BY: The EJLB Foundation,
continental Airlines, Hyatt Regency Chicago
Director, Music and the Brain: A Symposium
(1992). PRESENTED BY: The Foundation for
Human Potential, Chicago Symphony Orchestra
and The School of the Art Institute of
Chicago. 'SPONSORED BY: The National
Insti bite of Mental Health, Stouffer Riviere
Hotel, USAir
JANUARY-DECEMBER 1990
EPSTEIN FINE ARTS FUND
POSITION
Development Consultant
JULY 1980-JULY 1988,
POSITION
MICHAEL REESE HOSPITAL
DEPARTMENT OF NEUROLOGY
CHIC~GO, ILLINOIS
Research Associate/Speech-Language
pathologist
Clinical research: cognitive effects of
Alzheimer's Disease and Stroke.
Publications: (see attached)
.
' " ,
.
Director, Art, and the Br'ain: A symposium and
Art Exhibit (1988). PRESENTED BY: Michael
Reese Hospital and The School of the Art
Institute of Chicago. SPONSORED BY:
Lewis Manilow, The Nalco Foundation,
The Walgreen Benefit Fund. '
1
�SEPTEMBER 1977OCTOBER 1979
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY DENTAL SCHOOL
CLEFT LIP AND PALATE INSTITUTE
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
POSITION Clinic Coordinator
Faculty Appointment: Instructor
M.A'RCH 1978
March 1979
EVANSTON HOSPITAL
·DEPARTMENT OF SPEECH-PATHOLOGY
EVANSTON, ILLINOIS
POSITION
JANUARY-JUNE 1977
Speech Pathology Consultant
HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL
BEHAVIORAL NEUROLOGY UNIT
BETH ISRAEL HOSPITAL
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
POSITION Coordinator of Speech Pathology Services
JANUARY 1975
DECEMBER 1976
1975-Present
REHABTLITATIONINSTITUTE OF CHICAGO
DEPARTMENT OF SPEECH PATHOLOGY
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.
Licensed.Speech and Language pathologist
CIVIC INVOLVEMENT
1996-Present
NEW TRIER TOWNSHIP HIGH SCHOOL BOARD CAUCUS
Member from Wilmette District 39 .
WINNTEKA, ILLINOIS
1996-Present
COMMUNITY REVIEW COMMITTEE
Member
Wilmette Public Schools District 39
WILMETTE, ILLINOIS
1995-1996
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS at URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
Division of Rehabilitation Education
Services
Member of Advisory Board
1993-Present
ILLINOIS MATH AND SCIENCE ACADEMY
AURORA, . ILLINOIS
Mentor to students
2
�1986-1995
FRANCIS W. PARKER SCHOOL
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Education Councii (1994-95)
Co-Chair/Treasurer, AFS Program (1989-90)
Development Committee (1990-91)
Co-Chair, Auction Subcommittee (1986)
1990-1995
URBAN GATEWAYS
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
.
Member, Board of Directors, (1994-1995),
Member, Benefit Committee, (1990-1995)
Co-Chair, Entertainment Committee.
. Jazz with pizazz Benefit (1990::':'91)
198,4-199,0
1986
,
THE MARY 'MEYER SCHOOL
.
.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
President, Board of Directors (1987-90)
Treasurer, Board of Directors (1984-87)
'
THE SCHOOL OF THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Beaux Art Committee: Annual fundraising
event'
EDUCATION
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
EVANSTON, ILLINOIS
,M.A. Speech Pathology
December 1974
ADELPHI UNIVERSITY
GARDEN CITY', NEW YORK
B.A. Speech' and Hearing Rehabilitation
, June 1973
HONORS
REHABILITATION INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Arrington Fellowship for Aphasia
Rehabilitation (1974)
ADELPHI UNIVERSITY
GARDEN CITY, NEW YORK
Cum Laude
Dean's List
Delta Tau Alpha Honor Society
3
�LECTURING
Worthington-Kilbourne .High School, . Worthington,
Program, Contemplating Creativity, October, 1996
Ohio,
Lyceum
Worthington-Kilbourne High. School, Worthington, Ohio, Bridges to
the
Future
Program':
varieties
of
Excellence:
A Multiple
Intelligences Approach, August, ~996
Wilmette Public Schools 'Disirict 39 - Address to Principals and
Superintendent, wil'mette,
Illinois, 'A Summary' of .the Three
International 'symposia: Art and the Braini Music and the Brain; and
Sports, Dance, Movement and the Brain: Implications for Education,
April 1996 ,
.
Rush) Presbyterian . - st. Luke's Medical Center, Department of
Neurological Sciences, Chicago, Illinois,' A Summary of the Three
International Symposia: Art. and the Brain; Music and the Brain; and
Dance, Sports, Movement and. the Brain, November,1995.
Sports, Dance, Movement and the Brain Symposium, The Art Institute
of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. INTRODUCTORY LECTURE: Evolution of
the symposium, April, 1995
The Board of Trustees of The Francis W. Parker School, Chicago,
Illinois. INVITED ADDRESS: A Case for Maintaining the Education
Council of the Francis W. Parker School, september, 1994.
Music and the Brain, Symposium, The Art Institute of chicago,
Chicago,
Illinois.
INTRODUCTORY
LECTURE:
~E~V-""o,-",l,-",u,-"t"-"i"-"o~n-,-----",!o-=f__t=h,,,,e::::.
Symposium, November, 1992.
The Brain Research Foundation of The University of chicago, INVITED
ADDRESS,: A Summary of the Work of The Foundation for . Human
potential, September, 199~.
Chicago Autism Society, Chicago, Illinois, The Use of the Arts in
Autism, september, 1992.
Art and the Brain Symposium, The Art Institute·:of Chicago, Chicago,'
Illinois. INTRODUCTORY LECTURE: Evolution of the Symposium, May,
1988.
Alzheimerl~ Disease and Related'Diso~ders A~sociation, chicago,
Illinois. Neuropsychologic Testing for Alzheimer's Disease, May,
1983.
American Academy of Neurology, San Diego, California.
and Perseverations, May, 1982.
Intrusions
Northwestern University Dental School, chicago, Il.linois, Lecturing
to dental students: Speech Disorders Associated with Cleft Lip and
Palate, 1977-79.
" .
�Harvard Medical School: Beth Israel Hospital, Department of
Neurology, Boston, Massachusetts. In-serviqe lecturing to residents
and rtursinq staff: The Neurology of Speech and Language,. 1977.
American Speech-Language Hearing Association, Washington DC. A Case
of Traumatic Aphonia Secondary to CNS Damage, 1975.
PUBLICATIONS
Shindler, AG Contemplating Creativity. Manuscript.in~ited by the
1997 Encyclopaedia Britannica Medical and Health Annual. Publ. by
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Shindler, AG Schools shorild f6ster a love of learning. Letter to
the Editor, Wilmette Life: Pioneer Press, April 18,1996
Shindler AG et al (Eds). Sports, Dance, Movement and the Brain:
Symposium Proceedings (in process)
Shindler AG et al (Eds) Music and the Brain:' symposium Proceedings
(in process)
Shindler AG et al. (Eds) Art and the Brain: symposium Proceedings
(in process}
" ..
Hier DB, Gorelick PB, Shindler AG Topics in Behavioral Neurology
and Neuropsychology: with Key References.' Butterworths'Publishers,
Boston, 1987
Hier, DB, Hagenlocker K, Shindler'AG Language disintegration in
demential: effects of etiology and severity. Brain and Language
25:117-133, 1985
Gewirth LR, Shindler AG, Hier DB
Altered patterns of word
association '. in dementia and aphasia. Brain and Language 23: 307
317, 1984
Shindler AG, Caplan LR, Hier DB
Intrusions and Perseverations.
Brain and Language 23: 148-158, 1984'
Shindler AG, HierDB Book Revie~: Acquired N~urogenic D{sorders
(Marquardt TP, Author) Applied Psycholinguistics 4:1, 99-101, 1983
Hier DB, Thomas C, Shindler AG A case of subcortical dementia due
to sarcoidosis of the. hypothalamus and fornices. Brain and
Cognition 2: 189-198, 1983
5
�MEDIA COVERAGE 'OBTAINED
wilmette Life/Pioneer Press - wilmet~e Personality ~rofile
SPORTS, DANCE, MOVEMENT AND THE BRAIN: A SYMPOSIUM
Associated Pres's
Daily Herald, Arlington Heights, Illinois
1997 Encyclopaedia Britannica Medical and Health Annual'
US News and World Report,
.
.
1992-93
MUSIC AND THE BRAIN: A SYMPOSIUM
Associated Press
The Boston Globe'
CBS News Washington
Chicago Tribune,
Daily Herald, A:r:lington Heights, Illinois
1997 Encyclopaedia Britannica Medical and Health Annual
The Reader, Chicago, Illinois
WBBM-AM Chicago
WBEZ-FM Chicago
voice of America
ART AND THE BRAIN: A SYMPOSIUM AND ART EXHIBIT
The Boston Globe
Cable Network News (CNN)
Chicago Tribune
Daily Herald, Arlington Heights, Illinois
1997 Encyclopaedia Britannica~edical and ~eal~h Annual
The Reader, Chicago, Illinois
WBEZ-FM
LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION ARE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST
6
�~bt Wnibtf£iitp of~bicago
DE PA RT!vi ENT 'OF
PS YCHOLOG Y
COMMITTEE ON BIOPSYCHOLOGY
5848 SOUTH UNIVERSITY AVENUE
CHICAGO· ILLINOIS 60637
(312) 702-8859
FAX: (312)
702~
December 8, 1994
Andrea Shindler
The Foundation for Human Potential
3240 N. Lakeshore Drive, #9B
Chicago, IL 60657
DearAndi:
I am deeply honored to serve as a member of the Board ofTrustees of The Foundationfor Human Potential.
Although c.P. Snow saw two cultures and no way to weave their threads into a single tapestry, your vision
and your accomplislunents in bringing together the world of science with that ofthe larger culture are doing
just that. In my view, it is not only the realization of human potential that depends on the continuation of
this process. but our survival as a species.
The conditions of natural life for other animals reflect their common understandings, by instinct or by
learning, and the behaviors these govern. But the human world has become one in which the conditions of
our daily lives are powerfully determined by mysteries of science that nearly none of us understands and in
which scientificconsciousness ,attends mainly to itself. The danger of public ignorance and scientific
arrogance is especially critical in this era as human brains are beginning to decipher their own workings. In
my own field of human neuropsychology. I have witnessed the selling of pseudoscience in popular books.
weekend courses, the popular media. and in the school systems.
The conferences on Art and the Brain and Music and the Brain are the only ones that I have ever
attended in which artists and scientists. teachers and students, physicians and patients, and the general public
, seriously listened to each other. taught each other, and learned from each other. This kind of interchange, in
which different scientists challenge each other before a listening and learning audience and in which other
scholars, educators, artists, and the public contribute their perspectives, is a brilliant begirming. Much more
is needed, I believe that The Foundation for Human Potential has a major role to play in weaving together
Snow's two cultures. You and the Foundation have moved us forward toward this unification.
Warm regards,
1.J,'1">-LJerre Levy. Ph.D.
Professor
�Yo- Yo E. Mo
StaternentbyYo-Yo Ma for the Foundationfor Human Potential:
I have always been fascinated by the connection between the creative process and
related neurological patterns which occur in human beings. Ultimately, underlying this'
fascination with the workings of the individual artist isa desire to understand why every
society has had a need to produce art in. one form or another, and how the production of
.that art form effects the human thought process.
As we make advances in neurological research and gain substantial scientific data on the
relationship between the brain's relationship to artistic outpu t, we will perhaps be one:
step closer to understanding some basic elements common to all mankind.
.
"
The Foundation for Human Potential supports studies of human creativity and the brain,
and hosts symposia which allow further exploration of related topics. This year's
symposium, entitled Sports, Dance, Movement, and· the Brain, will p'rovide the rare
Oppol'tunity for scientists, artists, and educators to come together to explore common
elements like time; space, motion, structure, and variety-- elements which are found in
every discipline. The seeds of information exchanged at this kind of symposium will
undoubtedly take root in new studies,of the human brain and the arts, and reveal new
approaches and perspectives on how human beings learn, function, and relate to one
another.'
.
I wish the Foundation for'Human Potential every success in this worthwhile endeavor.
�THE UNIVERSIlY OF IOWA
DATE: November 8. 1995
RE:
The Foundation for Human Potential
The Foundation fc;>r Human Potential .has undertaken an ambitious
. program of dissemination of integrated knowledge in the fields of the
sciences and the humanities. The Foundation's director. Andrea
Gellin Shindler is to be credited with organizing several symposia in
which exp.erts from neurology, psychology, education, music. dance and
the arts, and sports. came together in an effort to interrelate and
make their activities more clearly understood to the lay public.
o
; .
,
','
Without a doubt, the Foundation'S efforts have touched many
individuals in the Chicago area and elsewhere. I personally,look
forward to. see it continue its activities especially if they will be
focused on a badly needed educational effort· in schools. .
.
The Foundation for Human Potential deserves our atten'tion,
appreciation, and support.
Sincerely,
Antonio R. Damasio, MD, PhD
M.W. Van Allen Professor and Head
Department of Neurology ,
ARD/nap
CoUege of Medicine
DeparttnentofNeu~ogy
200 Hawkins Dr. 2155 RCP
. Iowa City, Iowa 52242·1053
319/350·4290
FAX 319/353·()277
�~,
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
,
,
GRADUATE SQ{OOL OF EDUCAnON'
"I'M. ~""TCIIu!I"
n,
RuYUO
It.otw:r
(61'1) _9
z..
1.0MOIII"'0" Ik&.&.. NPWI "'AT
c..u."IDOI. KU'AC.uuru 02U.
,·.a
,
T'luxU)91I4H
Karch 28, 19N
To Whom ic ~ OcmQll'll:'
I am p1e8aed to eraclone the reqtl4IIIi tor fanding Cor the ongoing activiD.88 of
the FCJa.IlcIation tor Hu.man Po'Wntia1, inc1udiDr "Sports, Dance, Movement
and tH BtaiD: A Sympoaium" planned lOr April UR. I attended -Art and
th.. Bad.D: A s,".-am IUld An Exhibit" in 1988 an.d consider it' to be
&mDDI tIM !DOlt importaD.t ad mamozoable m.eetiDp that I have atteuded.. '
Ancli Shiudler, the .lI:amcatift Director and Fol.1.DCler of the Foundation for
Bl.IlII.ID,A po_tiel, bruqla,t together aD iucomparable croup of reaearch.erl '
from IDIIIl1' d.iKiplia.., the educatlci public, and a remarkable set of artitta
who haft ccmt:iD.uci to pftMiuce d.espite various kinde of'impa.:i:nrwlta. Both
the toll. of tbta prOC"'liD81' and the diecuB01l8 and int.erchanpa that took
place toll.o'wtq the p&pe'8 weNm::flu7. It is DO eugpration to ia, that
tboM ill . . .dance haft bee
" by a bond; r knaw that I have bad
1D.IJ11 o~ to rct-;» mcontact, aDd. to build upon, tb. relatioDJI
forpcl at tb ~ with 1l:"tiAI' .. ..n as with resaa:rchera. 14'
,,
dilcallioua with coD.eqo.ea aDd tmticipanta in "'MtUic awl the Brain: A
8J'mI»odam" in NO'nImMr 1992 COD1hm that the latter SympOllium had ..
aUmfar impact em. b
Ad.ditio11&l:J7, many of thOR who attended
aAzt ad the BraiD- ret:ar.aecl!or "KWl:ic and the BraiDw, .~ing IJ:.t
iDt.r.t in mtaze .,*IIpoma apJoriDg the ralatiOtlSh.ip between brain
fimdioll &ad. other abiliti••
.iteDCl...
In ~ ••)1DpOIIic:m OIl movement and the'i:lrain. Ms. Shindler
~ 011l1li. hupadu.t Dew eban-np. While there h8ve beeD • n.u.mber of' .
qmpotda 011 art ad mIItdc MId ill the brain aDd bUavioral Iei.ncaa, there.
have to ID¥ kDowleclte hem _ if 8DJ' comparable Wldertakinp in the area
of daD"., .~ . . . oth. domwm, illvolviDa' the .killed. UMof the body.
MI. SbtadJ« ... ~ fA coatact 1rit.b. lZIIIIIY of the molt i.mportact
rill l I Z ' " ill. thia .... u ....n u appropriate fIp.ns from the worlds or
dace ...
ftia qmpcwinm promi... to be apa:rt:icalarly
iIIaciutAnt; ou, whic:h should prove oCgraat moment for the
==-
.w...
!&. ShfDdlar w'i.diaatM that, iD addition to the continuation of the seri..
_cU,...
~
rra.clia_ aDd fb11ow;.u.p worbho~ lor,
pro&Ri1taaJa, aploriq tIM relationahip between b:rain function, lea.ruio.c.,
ucI c:rwttvitJ, abe fillOW' in d.i8caNiolLl with IChoola and. tehool dlstricta
rtIp1"d.iDc the potntia1 ratrudmiDg of canicul1ml, emphasizing the.
,otqmpo-'I
4.l
F"x (6 17) "". P1 09
'
�.,
,
.
h
,
;
,
..
, ' .
:
iwpoxt&1lcl at tbe apprecidiDa or indttiClual diftereuces in le&l1.1.irli styles.
AI, the mieejcm of tM FOlluul.tio:a. fOr H1UIW1 Pot.eD.tia1 is to Costar "
.
~ nl.1J'Ch mmbrain-behavior relationships and to derive
. _chin,.!M&bodI from. that reeeard&. the ciual thra.at. ot the PowuiatioD for
Hama:a PoWnti.1 SlI • MId. to Idd:reea theae isIaea in a l'OMarch contu:t,
.. weD .. Ul ecl'lUlllaona1 OD&. I applaud mel support the.. andea..ora~ ,
becaue ~ ill the izrlportia.Dt ea4 rualt to .,. attained. the poIIlDle bene& to
eclacat.on,. childra., azul adalta which distinpiahee tbiI enterpriae !rom
~.
.
Wb;y 11 tIda WVl"k ia::1pottu.t1 Fint, it it impcxtant to 1bcuI on and. to try Q)
~ the IDiD!e
upect.I of hw:aan nature, of which artistic .
aopt'IIItIion and "bodil,.;.ldD.eIthetic a;mtIIioD,' i:o.c1udiDa' dance, sports, and
the lDOftID8Ili.of lIIiJ:Da a:a.cl ledlll'; are ~ il:J.ata::aI. .
poaiti.,.
s.cr.~t ~
of the brain ill Iccmnu)mn, rapkU,.. However.
matIi of tJaoee i:J1.'t'Olftd. in braiD. .....,. tead to be NductSoDiltk: auel do not pay
adeqaata &ttIt:a.Qon t.a ldaher fa:Dd:i.ou. To JJJ:S way of tbjnJdD& aDJ
compnheD8ift t:Moz7 olbraiD fanctior& need.I to tab into I.CCOQD.t hu.man
artfst.ic capacity, ind~ &pOrta. dance and ~t. These· symposia
CI&A Mlp to br:i.q ahaIlt a lmiadeuilll of woridview &moDI'D.8aZ'OKillltiata.
'l'h.i;nl, dam... t.a 6a lnin COD.tiDUi to be ou of the principal htamaD.
aftIictioDa. It ill c:rada1 to UDcLalll"cl the etr.cta of bni:a. d.m . . . on
art:i.ttic. muaica1, ad ~ capaaitf.. and, etp4tCiatty, to UD.derstand
t:btI ~ !Ola daat tU uta CIU1 UI'C&me iD the treatmeu.t·1LDd
rebabi.lit&tlon of'biaiD. J:aju.rJ. ArtiI1ic and other forma of apresaiou may
..,.,me aD .......... c:ritfcal mmmnDieative role when other avenues are .
bl.cdwd •
;m~
Poartb., .. ail eclucdor, I Jm.ow that tile art& are a c:rU.cial. iDd.i.upensable
. p ut of hQIDIIJI. copitIon and experiace. I>a:riDc theee tiD:Ia ofba.i,et
=t:a. the aN an aJmoIt al1,alll&a'i1cai, daiq h.ute harm to aiati.Dg
and. tD tU chilcJ:raD. who Ihoald beDeIIi from t.ham. AI ou:r
~ ottba ~.' • •aiN.. aDd. IOCfalIl&tu.N of tIM arta
.
i.D.cr:uMI,.... ahoald be
able m~ t.bei:r ia.c1uIion iD t.ba education
of all ctriJ:iIec11m""'m baIn. aDd to brlzaa that edttcation about in ~ most
. idmI:uId ' f t 7 . '
.
·Pl.--
Ma. SlriNlla- JIIVP1I•• to _utim.. 1:0 Itud;y t.U braiD·behavior relationships
ot ~ . . ared;vifot.1:r:roqb. the =ani ofth... importa.J:.t eympolia .
aDd to .taI' ... to·~ ~ methods to -=a, and to racb., cb.ildrec
and aclaitlt; Wh DIIIIftI1oI1caI impcind -.ncl ~ tbzough educational
mMDit. ~. an JaacJat.ory. bar meaDe, eumplar.J. Su.pport of he
.sxt., ill
the p:qject aDd the oacota&' won:. could Mnelit children and
&d.ult8 in aD Gal1i'a:NL
.
.
HG ... 2
�:r
For all ofth. . :n.1CID1, I hopatbat it will prove possible to leC111"e the .
the 'oaDdltioD tOr ItlUlWl Poten~ needs to coJ1~ua thia tine . .
..
.
.
.
I would be laappy to apply additioual informatiOD. as requeSted.
Si:IIoma1.7.
~.~
ProAI.or of J:d'Claltion
Co-Dinccor,~ Proj«t z.o.
. . ,
.
A.d,jaaet Pro&uor olN«trOlogy. Boltun UuiVandty Sehool of Medicine
'"
.
H(;;l ... 3
�Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intel
According to Anne Marie Valencik,
ligences by Howard Gardner ~f the
who coordinated the project for
Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Ameritech, "the School has an excellent
Both Shindler and the School hope to
reputation for being on the cutting edge, .
continue thi? ongoing exploration in
and so does Ameritech." The content
future symposia.
In her early career as a speech therapist.
Andrea Gellin Shindler discovered that
after one of her patients,Carol Frankel,
suffered a stroke, she developed
unprecedented artistic abilities. "Carol's
and media represented are as diverse as
Ameritech's interests, and range from
Unusual Marriage of Art
and Commerce Unveiled at
Chicago's United Center
played in the arena's three concourses.
Ameritech Cellular Services, one of the
words are the unique language of the
Shindler recails. "We discovered it during
world's largest communications services,
whimSical creation envisioned by the
began talking about the case with other
people in neurology and psychology. The
morel learned, the more fascinating the
subject became to me."
This discovery prompted Shindler to
exp.lore the relationship between neuro
logical function and creativity, a subject
. that has fascinated both the medical
world and the art world since Van Gogh.
Shindler's questions brought her to the'
School's Department of Art Education
and Art Therapy, which resulted in the first
. symposium devoted to the subject" Art
and the Brain," held at tlie School in 1988.
The success of thesymposium led to a
second "Music and the Brain" in 1992, and
to the recent "Sports, Dance, Movement
and the Brain," held at the School this last
mixed-media installations, and computer
generated graphic images, which are dis
"Bubble, bUbble bubble." These
interest in painting was fascinating,"
her reh~bilitation therapy, and later I
painting, sculpture, photography, neon,
recently teamed up with the School in an
"Bubbular Communications" team of Jeff
unusual marriage of art and commerce
Weisfeld, Florbela Silva, and Kitty
at Chicago's new United Center. This
Williams. In their winning work,
state-of-the:art facility, which opened in.
crafted porcelain fjsh engage in an
September 1994, will host approxim:ately
underwater conversation, generated by
175 events each year, including the .,,996
computer-controlled streams of bubbles,
!'IIiO
hand
Democratic Convention. With an annual
within a large aquarium. These artists
potential of attracting over 3-1/2 million
explore the concept of wireless commu
visitors, Ameritech traded advertising
nication by creating analogies bet.:veen
space for original commissioned artwork:
bubbles under the sea and cellular
reflecting the theme
"Th~ Art of
Communication."
The company awarded commissions
communications in the air.
Other artists awarded commissior:s
include Alaina Goetz, Michael Kingsbury,
to eight artists/artist teams that included
Debra liptak, Ray Noesen, Natasha
current students, recent alumni, faculty,
Rubel, Satre Stuelke, Nathaniel Sweeney,
and staff from t~e School. Winners were
and Vello Virkhaus. Their works were
chosen from a pool of 76 proposals, and
unveiled on March 15, and will remain on
awarded commissions of $1 ,500 to $2,500.
display indefinitely.
April, which explored the relationship
between movement (dance, sports, ~ime,
and acting) and brain function. All three
symposia have brought together scholars,
educators, and artists fromall over the
world to stimulate interdisciplinary research
and leaming, from fields as diverse as neu
roscience, education, art, speech patholo
gy, developmental psychology, sports, and
cultural anthropology.
Shindler's interest in the subject has'
resulted in the Foundation for Human
.Potential, a not-for-profit organization
she tormed in 1990 to explore issues con
cerning creativity and learning. The basis
for Shindler's research and the symposia
is the widely-acclaimed book Frames of
Jeff Weisfeld,
~Iorbe!a Silva, and KinyWilliams, detail of Bubbular Communications. mixed ·meoia.
; 995.
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marker by the Wil1imTI J. Clinton Presidential Library Staff.
This marker identifies the place of a publication.
--
'Mo
Publications have not been scanned in their entirety for the purpose
of digitization. To see the full publication please search online or
visit the Clinton Presidential Library's Research Room.
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�Volume 1- Number 1
Summer, 1993
A Not-For-Profit
Corporation
NEWSLETTER
Dear Friends,
Pictured at the Reception:
ANDREA GELLIN
SHINDLER, Executive
Director, The Foundation for
Human Potential and
MICHAEL C. SHINDLER,
Presiden4 The Foundation for
Human Potelttia~ Vice
President, Hyatt Development
Corporation
I am delighted to report that Music and the Brain: A Symposium, the first project of The Foundation
for Human Poiential established in 1990, was an extraordinary success, particularly in this economy.
The remarkable cooperation of our cultural in-kind sponsors, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
and The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as the sponsorship of the National
Institute of Mental Health, the Stouffer Riviere Hotel and USAir allowed us to bring an
outstanding program to Chicago. Our international, interdisciplinary audience of nearly 400 attendees
represented many field" including the neurosciences and music, as well as the educated general
public. The interdisciplinary exchanges were fascinating and have resulted in new avenues for
research on creativity and brain function. The Foundation for Human Potential will be planning
workshops that focus on specitlc research ideas stimulated by this conference and the previous Art
and Brain Symposium. The workshops will be structured to facilitate brainstorming among smaller
groups of faculty and attendees.
We received international press coverage, having attracted among others, journalists from the
Chicago Tribune, Daily Herald (IL) , The Boston Globe, Time Magazine, the Journal of the American
Medical Association, Associated Press, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Voice of America, as well as
Chicago radio stations WBEZ-FM and WBBM-AM, and a journalist and film crew from CBS News
in Washington D.C., taking footage for potential use on CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Kurault.
The symposium critiques, completed by nearly 200 participants, indicated outstanding reviews of the program, constructive
criticism, suggestions for future conferences and interest in becoming involved with The Foundation for Human Potential.
The success of Music and the Brain: A Symposium attests to the promising future of The Foundation for Human Potential. We plan
to add student advisors to our Board, in order to stimulate more ideas and involvement. The inquiries about The Foundation's
activities and offers to help are extremely rewarding.
My goals for The Foundation have been to sponsor large interdisciplinary symposia to be followed by smaller workshops designed
to study and pursue research ideas stimulated by the symposia. The overall purpose is to further research in the area of creativity and
brain function and to utilize the information thereby derived, to develop teaching method" designed to stimulate creative and other
idiosyncratic abilities, and ultimately, to maximize human potential. Your contributions to this end are gratefully appreciated.
Thank you so much for your interest and support. I hope to see you at our future programs.
With best regards,
Executive Director and Founder
Conunents From Attendees of Music And The Brain: A Symposium
Reasons For Attending•••"Success of the first conference in 1988, Art and the Brain...My own love for this area of research and
expertise...Description in the Chicago Tribune wa.<; very important...Knowledge of facuJty...OpjXJrtunity tor continuing enrichment..."
Symposium Strengths... "What a unique blend of musical and psychological creativity...The Foundation for Human Potential
should be commended for providing such a wonderful opportunity for learning about the melding of music and brain research. It
was an incredible collection of scholars, all of whom were obviously passionate about their work. I felt little of the usual sterility
that frequently attend.. academic symposia in educational arenas. Thank you very much!...lt was just as focussed and timely as Art
Continued on pllge 2
The Foundation for Human Potential
Summer, 1993
�THE FOUNDATION FOR HUMAN POTENTML
�Art and the Brain
A Symposium and Art Exhibit.
May 12-14, 1988
�Joanne Donda
Department of Art Education and Art Therapy
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
112 South Michigan Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60603
Nonprofit
Organization
U.S.
PAID
ent and the lJ,(':o
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�Presented by
The Foundation for Human Potential
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
111e School of the Art Institute of Chicago
As the second in a series of symposia
designed to explore the bases of creativ
ity which began in 1988 with "Art and
the Brain: A Symposium and Art
Exhibit", the primary goal of this sym
posium is to stimulate interdisciplinary
cooperative research concerning the
possible relationship between musical
ability and neurolgic functioning, partic
ularly at the cognitive level.
It will bring together professionals pre
eminent in the field of neuroscience,
including neurology, psychiatry, neu
ropsychology, neuropsychiatry, and
neurosurgery; the field of music, includ
ing composition, performance, history,
theory, therapy and education; and the
fields of education, learning disabilities,
speech pathology, developmental psy
chology and cultural anthropology.
Lectures and panel discussions are
designed for the educated general pub
lic and specialists. Issues to be
explored are the definition of music; the
variables involved in musical ability;
musical development within both the
species and the individual; the notion of
. multiple creative talents in individuals;
psychological models of the brain; the
effect of brain disorders upon musical
ability; the relative contributions of spe
cific areas of the brain to musical ability;
and studies of well-known musicians
with sponsorship by
National Institute of Mental Health
Stouffer Riviere Hotel
USAir
with known or suspected neurologic
histories. As a complement to the lec
tures there will be a musical perfor
mance by Tony Deblois, an autistic,
blind pianist and a 1991 recipient of the
Itzhak Perlman Award from Very
Special Arts of the John F. Kennedy
Center for the Performing Arts in
Washington DC. The purpose of the
performance is to highlight exceptional
skill in the face of significant deficits
and thereby comment on human poten
tial and foster the appreciation of indi
vidual differences.
Director
Andrea Gellin Shindler
Executive Director
The Foundation for Human Potential
Chicago, Illinois
Music Advisor
David Epstein
Professor of Music
Music and Theater Arts Section
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Neurology Advisor
John C.M. Brust, M.D.
Professor of Neurology
Department of Neurology
Columbia University College of
PhYSicians and Surgeons
New York, New York
�
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Michael Cohen - Subject Series
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Domestic Policy Council
Michael Cohen
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<a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/36062">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7763316" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
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2012-0160-S
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<p>Michael Cohen held the position of Special Assistant to the President for Education Policy within the Domestic Policy Council from 1996 to 1999. Prior to being detailed to the White House, he served as Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Education.</p>
<p>This series of Subject Files contains materials relating to education reform, the Goals 2000: Educate America Act (1994), America Reads initiative, bi-lingual education and the ballot initiative in California which proposed to eliminate bi-lingual instruction and limit the amount of time for bi-lingual students to transition to English only, test standards, teachers, tribal schools, school safety and school violence. The records include correspondence, reports, faxes, emails, handwritten notes, schedules, publications, and memoranda.</p>
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Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
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318 folders in 24 boxes
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Foundation for Human Potential [1]
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Domestic Policy Council
Michael Cohen
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2012-0160-S
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Box 7
<a href="http://clintonlibrary.gov/assets/Documents/Finding-Aids/Systematic/2012-0160-S-Cohen.pdf" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7763316" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
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Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
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2012-0160-S-foundation-for-human-potential-1
7763316