Agnosia and the benefits of music
I was a person that would always ask people, "How can you study with headphones on"? I was a library student. I would have to study with absolute silence; today, I have headphones on most of my day. I basically live my life with music to function better.
I have agnosia added to hypoxia, and because of this diagnosis, I developed AVN. But today, we will only talk about Agnosia and hypoxia and how music helps me daily.
What is Agnosia?
Agnosia is caused by damage to the parietal, temporal, or occipital lobe of the brain. These areas store memories of the uses and importance of a familiar object.
s, sights, and sounds and integrate memory with perception and identification.
In some types of agnosia, only specific processes within a sense are affected. They include the following:
Prosopagnosia: People cannot recognize familiar faces. (I have but mild)
Environmental agnosia: People cannot recognize familiar places. (I have but mild)
Achromatopsia: People become color blind.
Anosognosia: People insist that nothing is wrong or ignore the problem, even when one side of their body is paralyzed.
Simultanagnosia: People cannot see more than one object or part of an object at a time. If they look at a table with food and various utensils, they may say they only see a spoon.
(On a side note:
For those who don't know what AVN is, it's Avascular Necrosis which is death in the bones caused by overuse of steroids. Hypoxia which is a lack of oxygen triggers free radical formation and apoptotic cell death. White matter petechial hemorrhages followed by multifocal necrosis occurs, particularly in the corpus callosum, basal ganglia, and hippocampus.)
I only have (mild agnosia) which means that certain places, faces, and memories might be difficult to recognize at times. I also have difficulty in repeating complex polysyllabic words.
BUT...
Even though No specific treatment for agnosia exists;
I want to share a story on how a specific artist called Manny Manuel which I pray that one day I will meet accompanied me thru my illness and today my memory is at a level that many Doctors cannot comprehend. Throughout my many years of hospitalization and being alone in a hospital bed or in recovery centers I used his music to lift me up and smile constantly. I would envision myself dancing even though at that moment I was in a wheelchair.
I have researched all I can about the benefits of music and experimented personally that listening to music while writing and doing house chores and driving has helped me. My headaches have diminished, and I am more calm when I have hip or shoulder pain.
What is funny is that according to my diagnosis, because of these conditions, it has decreased my knowledge and attention, and immediate memory is impaired as measured by the ability to repeat, reverse and sequence aurally-presented numerals. Basically, I have a below-average range of intelligence, according to my brain scans and evaluations after having hypoxia and agnosia.
But music has changed my life, and I'm glad that there is evidence that states that:
Music does what even the most coveted prescription drug and the most cutting-edge clinical trial cannot: it revives a part of us that, to others, seems dead. It floods us with memories from the past that reawaken us in the present.
Did I feel sad at first when I first saw this diagnosis? Yes! But I took three days to sob and cry. Then I said, "MItzy if John Nash made it and so many people with other diagnoses are going forward, you can do this as well. I told myself, "I will continue with my doctoral degree, my book, and living a musical new life with a smile on my face forever and always."
This is what I do whenever something unexpected happens to me. Today, I live with many agendas and reminders, and I will continue with my goals no matter the circumstances!
Never let a situation define your future.
Never let anyone define what you can or can't do.
Never allow anything stop you from achieving your dream!
Never let go;
because your time WILL COME if you are
PERSISTENT!
Listen to this audio blog
Mitzy Coreano
The simple writer 5/31/2021
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