Oliver Sacks, a noted neurologist and writer, appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart last week to promote his new book Musicophilia.

Besides the entertainment value of the interview, which is significant, several interesting topics emerged, including the following claims by Dr. Sacks:

– a unique pattern of brain enlargement occurs in musicians, making their brains grossly distinguishable from “typical” brains, like yours, mine, and Albert Einstein’s.

– music is a broad construct in the brain, the representation thereof built within multiple areas, and is therefore quite resistant to being wiped out completely with a stroke. He states that music is quite rudimentary and fundamental, and that rhythm is so elemental and deep in the brain that it is rarely lost.

-he also says that when a child dances to music it is a uniquely human ability, and further states: “A chimpanzee can’t dance. People often try to teach their dogs to dance, it doesn’t work.”

Animals do, however, respond to music. An interesting article in Discovery (which unfortunately does not list its sources) claims that one study showed a better growth rate in fish. Babies and monkeys both prefer lullabies to techno music. Other studies have shown the propensity of woodpeckers, kangaroo rats, and chimpanzees to “drum” objects in their environments for the purposes of communication, territorial displays, and attraction of females. Other research has found similarities between whale songs and human communication. In the scheme of evolution it only makes sense that music, rhythm, and language would not be completely novel. Here’s the number one hit for “dancing dog” on Youtube:

This dog, while certainly talented, intelligent, possessing an impressive memory for a repertoire of commands, and worthy of 5 million views… is getting its cues from the trainer and not the music directly.

Anyway, an interesting interview with Oliver Sacks, and a topic worth further exploration, with your dog or cat perhaps. That’s just the sort of thing You Tube needs more of, don’t you think?

{7/9/09 addendum} an excellent commenter pointed me to this undeniable evidence of a cockatoo grooving to “another one bites the dust.” Oliver Sacks, you need to start blogging! Cockatoos have a language ability, which supports the nexus between language, rhythm, and dance. Where was this cockatoo when I needed someone to start the dancing at my wedding?