In terms of brain development, musical performance is every bit as important educationally as reading or writing.

We speak not only to tell other people what we think, but to tell ourselves what we think. Speech is a part of thought.

In general, people are afraid to acknowledge hallucinations because they immediately see them as a sign of something awful happening to the brain, whereas in most cases theyre not.

The power of music and the plasticity of the brain go together very strikingly, especially in young people.

The past which is not recoverable in any other way is embedded, as if in amber, in the music, and people can regain a sense of identity.

I think hallucinations need to be discussed. There are all sorts of hallucinations, and then many sorts which are okay, like the ones I think which most of us have in bed at night before we fall asleep, when we can see all sorts of patterns or faces and scenes.

The brain is more than an assemblage of autonomous modules, each crucial for a specific mental function. Every one of these functionally specialized areas must interact with dozens or hundreds of others, their total integration creating something like a vastly complicated orchestra with thousands of instruments, an orchestra that conducts itself, with an ever-changing score and repertoire.