1. Causes

2. Treatment

3. Populations

4. History

5. References

Causes

It is postulated that by the "release phenomenon" MES is caused by hypersensitivity in the auditory cortex caused by sensory deprivation, secondary to their hearing loss.^[4] This "hole" in the hearing range is "plugged" by the brain confabulating a piece of information – in this case a piece of music. A similar occurrence is seen with strokes of the visual cortex where a visual field defect occurs and the brain confabulates a piece of visual data to fill the spot. This is described by sufferers as an image in the visual field.

The hallucinations are usually not unpleasant but may cause irritation due to their persistent nature. It is common for sufferers to have a history of tinnitus.^[4]

Investigations such as magnetic resonance imaging or CT scanning and electroencephalograms (EEGs) may be worthwhile, but will rarely show any serious pathology. It is believed that because this kind of phenomenon is usually heterogenous in causation, a wide variety of factors need to be considered, which could give possible explanation for why MES is seen as under diagnosed.^[5] Some of these factors may include significant trauma to the head or any side-effects from substances such as antidepressants, marijuana, alcohol, procaine, or general anesthesia.^[6]

Treatment

Given the unknown nature of MES, treatments have been largely dependent on an individual basis. Treatments can vary from being as little as self-reassurance to pharmaceutical medications.^[7]

Medications can be helpful, such as antipsychotics, benzodiazepines or antiepileptics, but there is very limited evidence for this. Some case studies have found that switching to a prednisolone steroid after a betamethasone steroid which caused MES helped alleviate hallucinations or the use of the acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, Donepezil, have also found that it successfully treated an individual's MES.^[5][6] However, because of the heterogeneous etiology, these methods cannot be applied as general treatment.^[5]

Other than treatment by medicinal means, individuals have also successfully alleviated musical hallucinations by cochlear implants, listening to different songs via an external source, or by attempting to block them through mental effort, depending on how severe their condition is.^[12]

Populations

The occurrence of MES has been suggested to be very high among the hearing impaired through acquired deafness or the ear condition known as tinnitus.^[8] Though exact causation is uncertain, it has been theorized that the "release phenomenon" is taken into effect. The "release phenomenon" says that individuals with acquired deafness may experience musical hallucinations because the lack of stimulation, which can give room for the brain to interpret internal sounds as being external.^[9]

Sufferers typically hear music or singing and the condition is more common in women.{{citation needed|date=December 2012}} The hallucinatory experiences differ from that commonly experienced in psychotic disorders although there may be some overlap. The most important distinction is the realization that the hallucinations are not real. Delusional beliefs associated with the hallucinations may occur, but some degree of insight should be preserved. There should not be any other psychotic symptoms present, especially hallucinations in other modalities.

History

Musical hallucinations and MES have only become widely recognizable in the last few decades of research, but there are indications throughout history that have described symptoms of musical hallucinations. The Romantic composer Robert Schumann was said to have heard entire symphonies in his head from which he drew as inspiration for his music, but later in his life this phenomenon had diminished to just a note that played ceaselessly within his head.^[10] An alternative explanation is that his symptoms were caused by syphilis or mercury poisoning used for its treatment. The Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich was also recorded as experiencing music hallucinations after some shrapnel was removed from his skull.^[10]

References

• Day of Days (Runrig album)
• Day of Days (WWII in HD)
• Day of Deceit: The Truth about FDR and Pearl Harbor
• Day of Deliverance and Thanksgiving
• Day of Deliverance (British India)
• Day of Deliverance (Pakistan)
• Day of Despair
• Day Off
• Day Off (disambiguation)
• Day Off (film)
• Day of Fury
• Day of Glory
• Day of Good Will
• Day of Greatness
• Day of Hristo Botev
• Day of Kyiv's liberation from Nazi invaders
• Day of Love (Egypt)
• Day of Memory for Repressed People
• Day of Missile Forces and Artillery
• Day of Mologa
• Day of Mourning
• Day of National Revolution
• Day of National Solidarity of Azerbaijanis
• Day of National Sovereignty
• Day of Neutrality