The Musician's Brain ― Does It Recover from Trauma Better Than Others?

This book describes the incredible recovery stories of 5 musicians who all suffered different traumatic brain injuries; a car accident, two bicycle accidents, a ruptured brain aneurysm and a terrible fall from the fourth story of a building's fire escape. Their riveting journeys from horrific injuries, nearing death, through intensive care treatment and rehabilitation accounts for what many trauma patients and their families endure. However, these stories especially focus on their rehabilitation through the use of their musical skills as well as physical, cognitive, speech and language abilities. The book compares what they all had in common in their recovery process and how this may be related to having a musician's brain. It is well documented that the brain of a musician is quite different than the brain of a non-musician from hours and years of practicing their instrument. Playing an instrument and reading music recruits many brain regions simultaneously. This is much like a workout for the body only it "works out" the brain. This book describes the differences between a musician's brain and that of a non-musician's, cites research in that area and also begins to demonstrate the possibility that musicians may recover more efficiently than non-musicians who suffer similar brain injuries, because they have more neuro-networks in many brain regions acting as a "scaffolding" for the brain; this helps compensate for injured areas. Some preliminary research is cited that purports professional musicians do not suffer degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease, as much as non-musicians. My goal is that this book will help to begin a discussion between clinicians and researchers, connecting musicians, neuro-scientists, rehabilitation therapists, music therapists, music teachers and medical personnel working with people who have acquired brain injuries.

Carol Shively Mizes is a Board Certified Music Therapist and currently works as the Coordinator of Arts Therapies in the Department of Arts in Medicine for The MetroHealth System in Cleveland, Ohio. Shively Mizes has been a Music Therapist for 35 years starting in the area of Long-Term Care with more than 20 years of experience working with people who had Alzheimer’s disease as well as other forms of dementia. Shively Mizes developed and implemented the first Music Therapy program in several facilities in Northeast Ohio and also consulted for others. In 2004 Shively Mizes designed the Music Therapy program for The MetroHealth Rehabilitation Institute of Ohio, treating patients who suffered brain injuries, strokes, violent head trauma, and spinal cord injuries along with other musculoskeletal deficits. In 2015, Music and Art therapies were transferred from the auspices of the Rehabilitation Department to the Department of Arts in Medicine where both services could extend throughout the entire MetroHealth System. Shively Mizes has expanded music therapy services to the Medical, Trauma, Surgical, Cardiac, Step Down, Intensive Care Units and other medical floors while still treating patients in rehabilitation. She has mentored many music therapy interns and assisted in designing a University Affiliated Internship Program first with Baldwin Wallace University and then with other universities who offer a major in Music Therapy. Shively Mizes graduated Cum Laude from Cleveland State University in 1982 with a Bachelor of Music Degree and a major in Music Therapy from the Cleveland Music Therapy Consortium. Shively Mizes completed her advanced Fellowship training in NMT with the Robert F. Unkefer Academy for Neurologic Music Therapy. As a sophomore at Cleveland State, she performed with the New York City Metropolitan Opera Company when they brought their production of ?I Am The Way” to Cleveland. She also toured with Paul Anka as a member of the CSU Chorale in a group of back-up singers. Shively Mizes has provided numerous presentations for a variety of professional organizations in North East Ohio regarding evidenced based music therapy techniques for recovery. She also co-authored an article regarding Alzheimer’s disease and music therapy called Music and Movement Therapy with Alzheimer's Victims in Music Therapy Perspectives, Vol. 3 (1986).