tagged w/ Oliver Sacks
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J.K. Simmons has only been given to us in small doses on screen -- Daily Bugle editor/publisher J. Jonah Jameson in the Spider-Man movies, Aaron Eckhart's boss in Thank You for Smoking, Paul Rudd's dad Oswald in I Love You, Man, Ellen Page's dad Mac in Juno -- all roles where he got to play the scene-stealer. But with his latest film, The Music Never Stopped, Simmons is finally a leading man. As Henry Sawyer, Simmons is a father who lost his son 20 years ago, but tries to repair the relationship when Gabriel (played by Lou Taylor Pucci) ends up in the hospital, now brain-damaged. Thanks to a tumor that's since been removed, Gabriel is incapable of forming new long term memories and thinks he's still in 1968 (it's based on a case written about by Oliver Sacks, "The Last Hippie"). Gabriel's parents discover that music helps Gabriel stay lucid, recall and possibly even form memories, so Henry immerses himself in all the music that Gabriel loves -- and that Henry used to hate -- so they can connect. Simmons talks about playing dads, authority figures, and geezers.
J.K. Simmons has only been given to us in small doses on screen -- Daily Bugle... more
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Over 50 years ago, the scientific community was introduced to the fascinating case of Henry Molaison. Better known to neuroscientists by the initials HM, Molaison lost function of his hippocampus following surgery for intractable seizures, rendering him unable to form any new (conscious) memories. But HM was not completely devoid of all memory. In fact, his memory for childhood events was rather keen, suggesting that this hippocampus structure may be necessary for forming new memories, but may not be where memories are ultimately stored. And thus began a massive effort to understand the role of the hippocampus
in memory formation and consolidation. Since then, a vast number of studies have strengthened the hypothesis of a time-limited role for the hippocampus in memory formation. The latest entry to this continuing saga comes from a study published in The Journal of Neuroscience.
Read the rest at:
http://www.onesci.com/Main_PageOver 50 years ago, the scientific community was introduced to the fascinating case of... more
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Dr. Oliver Sacks, bestselling author and neurological scholar sits down with Jon to discuss how music affects the brain.Dr. Oliver Sacks, bestselling author and neurological scholar sits down with Jon to... more
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I love this man.
I first picked up "The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat" in college, and have greatly admired him ever since. Sacks is credited with enabling laymen such as myself to access some of the hidden mysteries shrouding the inner workings of the human brain in language that is easy to follow and great fun to read.
In his new book, Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, he discusses the cases of the surgeon who was struck by lightning and became obsessed with learning to play the piano; of the musician whose memory was destroyed by disease but who can still play a Bach sonata; and of the countless ways in which the human brain is stimulated, soothed, agitated and sometimes shattered by music.
It is the work of a man who, to borrow Sackss description of the brain, is exquisitely tuned to music. It is written in his signature style filled with quirky charm and compassion, more descriptive than analytic, more lyrical than scientific. The New York Times has called him the poet laureate of medicine.
Did I mention that I love this man?I love this man.
I first picked up "The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a... more
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