
Music a 'mega-vitamin' for the brain - fiaz
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/06/02/music.therapy/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
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SwellJoe
Speaking of music as a tool for finding new pathways in the brain, I had a
professor in college who had a serious stuttering problem. So, rather than
talk (and stutter), he sang. All the time. Actually, it was more of a sing-
song speech pattern, but he didn't stutter when doing it, and it took me quite
a while to figure out why he talked that way (and having occasion to see him
stutter a couple of times when not doing the sing-song voice).

This led to an interesting side effect, that I always enjoyed. Because he had
a sort of steady sing-song tone, his voice was somewhat static...it wasn't
obvious when he was emphasizing something. This had the most profound effect
when he told jokes, which he did quite a bit. Unless you were really paying
close attention, you'd completely miss that he'd told a joke. All but the most
obvious of his jokes went unnoticed by all but me and the girl who sat next to
me at the back of the class. So, we would occasionally get odd looks for
laughing out loud for no apparent reason. I always wanted to make him a flag
with the word "Joke!" on it, that he could wave when making jokes. But I
wasn't sure if he'd find it funny or offensive.

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CalmQuiet
Yes, the right music can _definitely_ help me break out of a stuck point in
coding - right up there with endorphin-stimulating exercise. It certainly can
be a mood booster and hence motivator when long stretches of linear/analytical
thinking gets bogged down. YMMV.

