Musical Hallucinations

[Guest J.Barnett]

I am deeply interested in musical hallucinations and I would be very grateful if anyone could shed some more light on this hearing defect. I’m very interested how the scientific interpretation of hallucinatory voices, ambient sounds and music compare to schizophrenia, psychosis, psychics ect

[jordan]

I don't know exactly what musical hallucinations are. Could you explain what they are quickly for myself and anyone else who doesn't know?

[BPHgravity]

I don't know if you would call this "musical hallucinations," but certain songs invoke certain smells when I here them. I'm not talking about remembering a odor or recalling a situtation involving odor, I actually mean smell, as if the object was right in front of my face. This usually invoves a song from my childhood and the smell of a specific type of food. The specific smell is always assoicated with the same song. It can be quite powerful to the point I nearly think I can taste the food. It may sound weird, but it actually quite pleasing, and I wouldn't call it a defect.

[YT2095]

music is one of the basic triggers in the primative brain (the Limbic system if I rem correctly) it deals largely with emotion and feelings and also certain rythms/music, perhaps that may be causal in these efects? I`m no expert in this field by any means, but it would to me at face value seem very likely

[felinlasv]

Music has always been a part of mankind's society and it certainly affects our mood and other senses. It can be used for several purposes, it just depends on what you want to do or use it for. The greeks used to bring fluteplayers along with their military because the music would encourage their soldiers and pump them full of adrenaline. The sjamans in certain tribes use music to get in an altered state of mind in which they can communicate with their gods.. All this just to point out that the influence of music on the brain is not to be underestimated...

[Guest J.Barnett]

As far as I know music hallucinations generally occur in the deaf or hard of hearing, a form of tinitus ect. The subject will hear a song, ambient noise or voices as if they are hearing them with there ears. Now from what ive come across it's stated that this is based on hearing memory if you like. apparently sound is broken into two categories (the intellectual & Non) the brain bypasses the ear and uses inner intellectual part to project these sound memories. This is one source ive come across, though surely this would be a little more trivial than hearing one song playing from a fictitious radio or an array of voices and were do you draw the line between auditory hallucinations and schizophrenia. Any more input gratefully debated this has become a bit of an intriguing obsession.

[jordan]

Anything to do with Beethoven?

[admiral_ju00]

music, words and images that graduate from short term to long term memory can invoke such unconcious feelings or emotions. but rougly speaking your brain associated the sound with a certain feeling or object and when you see one, the other may not be far behind. but again, this is most likely still to be found in the memory and caused by memory, in a sence, this 'smell' you smell when you hear that certain melody resides in your memory.

[Glider]

I don't know if you would call this "musical hallucinations," but certain songs invoke certain smells when I here them. I'm not talking about remembering a odor or recalling a situtation involving odor, I actually mean smell, as if the object was right in front of my face. This usually invoves a song from my childhood and the smell of a specific type of food. The specific smell is always assoicated with the same song. It can be quite powerful to the point I nearly think I can taste the food. It may sound weird, but it actually quite pleasing, and I wouldn't call it a defect.

 

Sounds like you may have mild synesthesia, which is neither a disease nor a defect, just a rare condition. It affects (I think) around one in 500,000.

[Jenab]

As far as I know music hallucinations generally occur in the deaf or hard of hearing, a form of tinitus ect. The subject will hear a song, ambient noise or voices as if they are hearing them with there ears. Now from what ive come across it's stated that this is based on hearing memory if you like. apparently sound is broken into two categories (the intellectual & Non) the brain bypasses the ear and uses inner intellectual part to project these sound memories. This is one source ive come across, though surely this would be a little more trivial than hearing one song playing from a fictitious radio or an array of voices and were do you draw the line between auditory hallucinations and schizophrenia. Any more input gratefully debated this has become a bit of an intriguing obsession.

I have a mild case of tinitus: illusory noises of high pitch constantly humming on both sides of my head. The tone apparently in my left ear is higher than the tone apparently in my right ear. Both tones sometimes warble a slight bit in frequency, occasionally briefly causing some sort of musical chord. Clenching my jaw causes brief amplitude spikes which go away quickly whether I relax my jaw or not. Although I have a vivid musical imagination and can "play" often-heard songs in my head with great fidelity, this is distinct from the tinitus condition that I've described. I can most often ignore the tones.

[Guest Cyriaque]

I have experienced several times a strange phenomenon.

I am not suffering from any sort of deaf problem at all. Never taken any drugs, do not drink at all....anyway a neurobioligst gave me an interesting explanation of my case. As regards my story, a specific position of my head would trigger either a sort of electrical activity or a blood flow that would generate "musical memories" (eg i could listen to classical music, choir, female and male opera voice, a music band called Vangelis,...) though I may have listend to them many years before . my brain had recorded the tunes and the specialist explained to me that it was like my brain "would play a disc". I have a whole file about my deep research on that subject (for those interested)

Cyriaque

from FRANCE

[BPHgravity]

Sounds like you may have mild synesthesia, which is neither a disease nor a defect, just a rare condition. It affects (I think) around one in 500,000.

 

WOW! Thank you very much for sharing this comment. I had never heard of this condition nor did I realize what I was experiencing was actually a real thing. I have now done some research on synesthesia and can't believe how many examples I can find that are similar. It appears that most cases are reported as visual occurances, like certain letters always being a certain color. Thanks again!

[aman]

I hope I'm not alone but I hear music in my head often before I sleep at night. I sometimes am up for a while because the music is so unique and I can make out the scores played by each instrument in the orchestra. Its not actually composing but mostly like listening and sometimes I'm suggesting where the music should go. I usually hear classical or jazz and sometimes am suprised by something really unique. I wish I could plug a sensor in my ear so others could follow the composition. I take the quiet and hear it sing. I scored off the scales back in high school pre college testing so maybe I'm just a weirdidity but I hope everyone else has been able to do this also.

Just aman

[alt_f13]

I hope I'm not alone but I hear music in my head often before I sleep at night. I sometimes am up for a while because the music is so unique and I can make out the scores played by each instrument in the orchestra. Its not actually composing but mostly like listening and sometimes I'm suggesting where the music should go. I usually hear classical or jazz and sometimes am suprised by something really unique.

 

 

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh, yes. That is where I get most of my compositional ideas. That is, before I sit down and actually try to compose.

 

 

I wish I could plug a sensor in my ear so others could follow the composition. I take the quiet and hear it sing. I scored off the scales back in high school pre college testing so maybe I'm just a weirdidity but I hope everyone else has been able to do this also.

 

I've oftain wished the same thing. I'm willing to bet Beet Oven and his brother Sir Mozart were rather in touch with this part of their brain. Mozart oftain said he got his music from "God". Probably his subconcious.

 

I wrote a page on this subject in my site about a year ago. It has since gone down but it emphasised the fact that the unbridled creativity of our subconcious is a resource screaming to be tapped. That will hold true for some time I think. Too bad.

 

 

I think many people have auditory hallucinations before they fall asleep. You do dream right when you go to sleep, so I imagine this is part of the process.

 

Ever hear voices instead of music? I do on occasion, but it is so scary I instantly snap out of it expecting to go into mortal combat with some sort of snarling space creature. Sometimes I do, but being from a relatively low massed planet, they don't generally put up much of a fight.

 

 

 

(Do I need mention that last part was a joke? Just thought I'd better.)

[Tesseract]

I think I have something similar to Jenab by clenching or pressing together different parts of my body (especially my jaws) I can create a dull fluctuating sound.When there are no other ambient noises I can hear this sound quite clearly and sometimes loud.

[alt_f13]

You are probably both activating the muscles in your inner ear.

[Tesseract]

You are probably both activating the muscles in your inner ear.

 

Id say thats it because thats where I feel it.

[xXxAuroraxXx]

About the smells, maybe you're about to have an epilectic siezure.

[Tesseract]

About the smells, maybe you're about to have an epilectic siezure.

I think he wouldnt be around to write the post.

[NavajoEverclear]

I have the exact same thing as Jenab (well likely not exact frequency, but his description is the same as mine). I haven't thought about it in a long time, because its constant i mostly ignore it. If i pay attention to it its very annoying. Every once in a while, randomly the amplitude bursts, then takes like a minute to dim down. I usually notice that if i get one, i'll have several more in a week. But like i said, its not anything i ever give note too. I assumed that this was something everyone had, i don't know why, probably i'm just a bit stupid. Darn why did you have to bring this up. I wish there was a way to make it go away.

 

One time i did hallucinate an actual song, i know it was a halluciation cause there was no possible source of it to come from, and to be sure i went around the house asking if anyone had been playing anything. It was vocal, and very peaceful and really awesome or something. I don't remember it, but i remember it kinda moved me. Only happened once. Though during my childhood i'd often hear sound fragments when no one was around, usually my name.

[alt_f13]

I can control those damned ear sounds, unless it is completely quiet where I am because that is natural noise which you can't get rid of. It's just like the noise* in your eyes when you shut them.... In any case, I can control the sound ones when they get too loud just by willing them away.

 

 

*White noise...which is in fact made of colors.

[dmeal]

I am deeply interested in musical hallucinations and I would be very grateful if anyone could shed some more light on this hearing defect. I'm very interested how the scientific interpretation of hallucinatory voices, ambient sounds and music compare to schizophrenia, psychosis, psychics ect

 

My family has a history of neurosarcoidosis. Two great aunties had "visions of angels", and I have cousins with musical hallucinations and night sweats. Recently many of my family and cousins have developed sarcoidosis as a result of an haemophilus infection that I contracted at work. In 1988 I had a series of very painful tetanus injections. A short time later I awoke one night and after about 15 minutes I heard one note, followed by another note etc. The sound was microtonal and vocal - like a "choir of millions of angels" singing in the cosmos - the music of the spheres? Then an angel of light started to emerge at the foot of my bed. At this point I freaked out and put the doona over my head, so I could no longer "see" the angel, but the music continued for a while. I've never had an episode since, but have had other sarcoid symptoms on and off over the years. In addition to the sarcoidosis I have a family history of mycosis fungoides and rare sarcomas and melanomas, mutations and microdeletions. I believe that there could be HTLV-1 proviral DNA involved and "borrelia-like" bacteria. Yes - Beethoven and Mozart probably "suffered" from neurosarcoidosis. I also have a family hx of autism etc.