These two conditions show the good and the bad of synesthesia, and it’s interesting to hear first hand accounts of what it’s like to have them. On the Misophonia website, among all of the people that were sharing their perspective on their condition, they were also sharing ways to help keep sound out so that there isn 't a murder spree. Amusia Amusia is the inability to comprehend musical sounds. These people can comprehend sounds like a dog barking or someone talking, but not the sounds of instruments or singing. There are two main types: congenital and acquired, and the only difference is that congenital is inherited and acquired is not. Under these two categories, however, are more specific forms of amusia, including amelodia, dysharmonia …show more content…
She first figured this out when she was in kindergarten, when her teacher asked the class to sing their names. Once it was her turn, she told the teacher that she didn 't know what singing was, and therefore couldn 't do it. Later on, in second grade, she was in a music appreciation class, where they played five pieces and the children had to write about which one they liked better. The problem for her, though, was she couldn 't tell the pieces apart. Once she went home and told her father, he went out and bought the same pieces that were played in her class and worked with her to try and get her to understand, but nothing was working. This continued all her life, and she had to endure concerts and musicals that her friends and family wanted her to go to because none of them really believed her when she said that she didn 't understand music and that it was extremely unpleasant to listen to. What they figured out later, however, was that she had a form of amusia called dystimbria. This is where musical tunes are perceived as irritating or unpleasant noises. Another example of this is is a man who heard music as screeching car (Oliver Sacks). Benefits While these are ways that music can do damage to people, there are other ways that it can help people. We hear all the time about how people who stutter when they talk magically can …show more content…
Sacks describes a man who escapes it through playing Bach on the piano. For a man who thinks he has over forty thousand tics a day to be able to escape that for a few minutes just by playing his favorite songs is incredible. He doesn 't believe that his tics just disappear, however; he believes that they are just harnessed and focused. He says that he “was simultaneously feeding and fuelling my tourette’s by giving it a thing it so craved: touch.” (SOURCE) Parkinson’s Disease Parkinson’s is very similar to tourette’s, but in parkinson’s the natural rhythm of our body is gone, and all of their movements are very shaky and jerky, and sometimes faster or slower than they should be. It’s almost like their whole body is stuttering. These people often can 't initiate movement very well, but can still respond to it. For example, if you tell a person with parkinson’s to throw a ball, they won 't be able to. If you throw a ball at them, however, they might be able to catch it but not be able to move afterwards. What music does with parkinson’s is it gives it a rhythm to follow, or to initiate movements. Sacks tells us that the best music is legato, smooth and flowing, but also has a clearly defined rhythm. If the rhythm is too powerful, it could have the opposite effect and make their condition worse. Music lets parkinson’s patients go back to the natural rhythm their body had before the disease took