ANDRZEJ KRAUZE
The first time Sven Vanneste, who studies tinnitus at the University of Texas at Dallas, encountered a patient with musical hallucinations, he noticed on her chart that it was her birthday. “Happy birthday,” he told her at the start of their visit, not knowing yet that “Happy Birthday” was the very song she was hearing over and over again in her head.
“Happy Birthday” is not a lovely song by any stretch, and the prospect of having it repeated ad infinitum is maddening. It’s no wonder, then, that musical hallucinations—typically incurable and chronic—can be so distressing. Such hallucinations, rare phenomena affecting one to three percent of people who seek treatment for tinnitus, are the perception that music is playing outside the body (as opposed to ...
