Stephanie G. Mathis Researchers debate the causes and treatments, but the predominant theory is that people with dyslexia have a problem with phonological processing – the ability to see a symbol (a letter or syllable) and relate it to speech sounds. Researchers disagree on the causes and treatment of dyslexia, but it is generally accepted that those with the condition have difficulty with phonetic processing. This means they are unable to translate a symbol into speech sounds. It is hard to diagnose dyslexia, but up to 10% of suffer from it.
Neil Gordon, a retired pediatric neurologist, proposed in 2000 the idea of musical Dyslexia ( Dysmusia) based on the growing evidence that areas of the brain responsible for reading music and texts differ.
It is not a new idea that dyslexia can affect the ability to read non-language symbols. Dycalculia, for example, is the inability to read and understand mathematical symbols. Recent research confirms that dyslexia and dyscalculia are separate conditions, each with its unique causes. (Dyscalculia may be caused by an impairment in spatial processing within the parietal cortex). Why not also musical symbols?
Music reading is an activity that involves the entire brain. Flutist via www.shutterstock.com.
Music’s Written System
Western music has developed a sophisticated coding system similar to that of language. It can be recorded and transferred from composer to performer. Music, unlike other languages, is based on a spatial arrangement. The page is divided up into five-line staffs. The higher a symbol appears on the team, the higher the pitch.
Pitch stacking is possible, unlike letters in text. This indicates simultaneous performance. The music industry uses symbols to show how pitches are played. Symbols are used to indicate volume, dynamics, and duration. Written words are also used in music to lead the expressive qualities of the music and lyrics for vocal music. The songs may not be in the language of the performer.
It makes sense that the brain will read music and texts differently due to the differences in physical features. This is the case, at least in part.
The brain uses different systems to process music and text. Violin and books via www.shutterstock.com.
Reading music and text in the brain
Reading music involves many areas of the mind at once. Music reading is a full-body activity that involves motor, visual, and auditory areas, as well as audiovisual and somatosensory ones. It also includes parietal, frontal, and parietal regions, and even the cerebellum. The neural network becomes stronger with training. This widespread network is activated by musicians even when they are reading a single pitch. Text and music reading do share certain networks but are mostly independent. The activation pattern for reading musical letters and symbols is different throughout the brain.
Composer Maurice Ravel. Bibliotheque nationale de France via Wikimedia Commons
Ravel had a form of frontotemporal lobe dementia. Ravel had frontotemporal dementia.
There have been instances where a more limited brain injury affected the ability to read one coding system but not the other.
Ian McDonald is a neurologist who was an amateur pianist. He documented his loss and recovery from a stroke of his reading ability. Oliver Sacks describes the case of a pianist who lost her ability to learn music but retained her text-reading skills for years. Another case shows the opposite pattern. A musician loses his reading ability but retains his music ability.
Researchers have been fascinated by cases where language and music are affected differently by brain damage for centuries. In 1745, an article called on a Mute Who Can Sing reported the first case of a person who could not speak but still sing.
Vissarion Shbalin lost his language ability after a stroke but retained the ability to compose. The ability to maintain singing in the absence of language led to a new treatment, Melodic Intonation Therapy, which replaces speech with music. The patient can then communicate verbally. These and other cases demonstrate that language and music are in some ways separate neurological processes.
Even within the musical notation, differences in reading abilities can occur. There have been cases where musicians lost the ability to read music but retained their rhythmic ability. fMRI study has confirmed that the brain processes rhythm (symbols recognition) and pitch (spatial data) differently.
Musical dyslexia
This research begins to suggest how a specific musical dyslexia might occur. This may be due to a deficit in either pitch musical symbols, or both. Hebert & colleagues are close to a conclusive report of musical dyslexia, but the results have not been conclusive.
In Western culture, children are often taught to read texts but not necessarily music. The inability to read music is not treated seriously, even when it happens. Some gifted musicians can function at a high level by learning music only by ear. There is a wide variety of musical reading abilities among musicians. It is most evident when sight-reading (the first performance) of a piece notated. The diagnosis of musical dyslexia may help explain why some musicians are able to read music well while others struggle.
