(I apologize for uploading this blog post so late!)
The experiment that Oliver Sacks conducted surprised (and amused) me, to say the least, but it also reminded me of encounters with muscle memory that had occurred during my (short) career as an athlete during high school. Though I partook in volleyball and soccer every year, my school never enforced the rule to train during off-season, so essentially, after a 2 – 3 month season of a sport, I never really touched the ball for a good 12 months until the next season came along. Despite this, my muscles never seemed to forget the skills I had cultivated, and whenever I touched the ball again, my body would know what to do, dependent on the sport I was playing. Even when I tried to reposition my body or attempt a different way of something, my body would recognize the sport I was playing and automatically revert back to the way I’ve always executed a move or a skill. In this sense, I think I could understand the reaction of Sacks’ brain during the experiment–his brain has been so wired to prefer a certain type of music over another, that almost as if by habit, it recognizes the certain patterns/beats of the music that makes it more favorable. Though I slightly understand the mechanics behind it, I am still amazed at the complexity and capability of the brain!
As for the bit on synesthesia that we brushed upon during class, I can’t say that it’s prevalently seen in my daily life as it seems to exist in the lives of several of my classmates. But, because I am an aspiring English major, I suppose certain words come with different “colors” and “weights” to them for me, because I’m being trained to focus so heavily on each individual word that is presented in the text. As for music, I’m not so strongly invested into my music (though I do listen to a great deal of it), but I can claim that I do feel different emotional connections occurring when I listen to certain songs. Sometimes, I can only make sense of my emotions when I listen to songs. I like to be very in tune with my feelings, so whenever I feel doubt or uncertain of the emotional battle that’s presiding within me, I listen to particular songs that I know bring out particular emotions. And when that certain emotion does come out in response to the song, then I know that this is the emotion I am truly feeling. In this way, I suppose I utilize music to help me understand my life, but also to bring peace to it.