This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
Lots of surgeons listen to music in the operating room. And it may even help some patients. At least that’s what New York Times reporter Daniel Wakin concluded from what must have been a very rigorous review of the medical literature two years ago. (One wonders what he listened to while writing.)
But if you don’t like your surgeon’s choice of tunes, you can bring the musical entertainment yourself. That’s what professional bluegrass musician Eddie Adcock did when he went in for brain surgery.
Adcock needed the operation to stop hand tremors that could have hurt his banjo career, reports ABC News. Doctors at Nashville’s Vanderbilt Medical Center implanted electrodes to quiet the brain cells that caused trembling in his hands.
But they needed to make sure they weren’t damaging anything important, so they kept Adcock awake and strumming his banjo while they did the surgery. (Mind Hacks explains how it works here.)
In an ABC video, Adcock plucks an upbeat tune to test his dexterity, amid the electrical beeps of the operating room.
Adcock told Public Radio International that he didn't have to sterilize the banjo.
That would have probably put it way out of tune.
(Image courtesy of the BBC.)
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