Nicole Bernard

October 5, 2016
PSY 1010
The Music Never Stopped

Gabriel had a large tumor that extended to both sides of his frontal lobe, reached
backward into his temporal lobe and downward to the forebrain. Although the tumor was
benign, it went unchecked for such a long period, resulting in damage to the frontal lobe; which
is the part of the brain that controls inhibitions. Inhibition prevents from expressing thought and
emotions. Because it was unclear how much time Gabriel spent on the streets, the slow growing
tumor also affected the hippocampus; located on the medial side of the temporal lobe.
Gabriel had the most troubles with newer long-term memories; anything that occurred
after the tumor grew and damaged the hippocampus. Every day was a new day for Gabriel, not
only was he unable to remember anything from the previous day, he was also unable to
remember new memories from one minute to the next. He needed to be reminded of what day of
the week it was, what time of year it was and when his father was coming to visit. Each day he
would reintroduce himself to anyone he came in contact with, even though he had met them on
several occasions. Gabriel is unable to hold any new information in his conscious awareness
making it not possible for him to process the memories for storage in the long-term memory.
The hippocampus is responsible for making new memories, and it is in charge of the
consolidation of information from short-term memory to long- term memory. Damage to the
hippocampus will only affect the formation of new memories, any old memories that were stored
before the injury occurred were not affected. This is why when the doctor began to ask Gabriel
questions after his surgery he was only able to answer questions from the past and when asked
the current year it was; he was unable to answer.
Although Gabriel would listen to his fathers music and the stories that went along with
them, he had a difficult time connecting the memories. As Gabriel began to work with the music
therapist and she played music from the 60s his conditional memory began to awaken, and he
would talk about memories from the past. His primary memory would awaken more and more
with each song as he connected this particular music to his past. Gabriel was able to
communicate through his music. It was only then that he could clearly describe a significant
event in his life before the damage to his hippocampus occurred and he developed anterograde
amnesia. When Gabriel left home 20 years earlier, he did not have a healthy relationship with his
father. After being reunited with his parents, he was able to express his feelings and
communicate through the memories made from the music he listened to in his past. When

Gabriels therapist handed him the guitar, he was able to pick it up and play without any
hesitation. Gabriels implicit memory was not affected by the damage.
Music is known to arouse emotion, and these emotions evoke a feel good feeling, resulting in a
created memory.