The deaf child could literally feel the vibration of the music? That's incredible.

I wonder if any of those children will grow up to be fascinated with music, or to be more inclined to learn music theory.

We assumed so, based on the mother reporting fetal movement during the 8 month test. At that point, ears are fully developed in a normal baby, so since we learned her baby was born deaf I can only assume that the ears were not developed at all, and that small vibrations from the loud sound is what caused the movement or excitement.

There have been studies done with deaf people of all age ranges being able to enjoy music through vibrations. That's a whole other fascinating topic that also helps us understand how hearing people (i.e. you and me) enjoy music not only through sound, but also through the vibrations.

I'd also be interested to know if those babies (toddlers now I guess) have shown an interest in music or learning music. And not from those Baby Mozart DVD's or whatever they're called, either (those irritate me since they don't actually enhance cognitive musical development at all). I mean through actual teacher-student lessons, dancing to songs on the radio, and going to see the symphony when they do special concerts for children.

Babies have perfect hearing. Hearing declines as one ages so that's why babies are preferred for this research.

I wonder how the development [of ears] is different for children who are born deaf (what could possibly contribute to this disability, if the development was somehow delayed in the womb compared to babies born with hearing ability, etc.) and how it could possibly be treated prior to that crucial stage. I bet science will find a way, someday, to perform surgery from within, just as soon as they figure out how (and if) these things can be altered.

I wonder how music feels (since they can't hear) to the deaf, and if the feeling is something on an emotional level.

I'm sure it is similar to the feeling/vibrations that you get when you are at a concert and you can feel the bass vibrating through you.

But do you think there's a chance that they may be able to differentiate between the vibration itself and certain nuances (so that they may be able to be affected, emotionally, by music, in the same way that someone with hearing would)?

I honestly don't think so but I'll let it up to BD to answer that question since she has done more research on the subject than myself.

A deaf person's other 4 senses are extremely heightened, to make up for the lack of hearing. Feeling of sound (feeling the vibrations) in deaf people is actually sensed by the area of the brain normally used to process sound waves picked up by the ears. The brain then attaches emotions to this. From a study done at the University of Washington:

Brains of deaf people rewire to ‘hear’ music | UW Today

My absolute favourite example of deafness and music perception and composition is Beethoven. A lot of his later works make extensive use of lower frequency notes (heavy bass), and now we understand that he did this because he could "feel" those notes better than pitches of a higher frequency. Beethoven, after his hearing was completely gone, had chopped the legs off his piano so that he could compose music whilst laying on the floor to feel the notes, because he couldn't hear them. Symphonies 8 and 9 were composed in this fashion. Beethoven worked on the 9th Symphony for 7 years, from 1817 until 1824, due to his complete deafness. He also worked on choral parts for this symphony (like the Ode to Joy chorus).

Symphony 8



Symphony 9, Movement 4 (you probably already know this one but here it is). You'll notice heavier bass in this piece.



The unfortunate part is that Beethoven did not get to hear his own compositions. He had no idea what they sounded like, if they were great or disastrous. He only saw the music on paper.

After twenty-seven years I've still never held a baby and I have no particular desire to. If he threw up on me I'd stick my finger down my throat and give him a taste of his own medicine. And god help him if he ****s in his diaper.

Is it odd to say that I actually have tears in my eyes right now? That's seriously amazing. The capabilities of the human brain are so vast and magnificent. (Plus I just love learning about cool stuff, so without saying too much, I really appreciate everything you just posted.)

My mother told me that when I was a baby, she was hovering me over her face (I don't understand why parents do this, they should know better) and bouncing me or some weird thing, and I vomited on her face.

It was in her mouth.

Seriously. That's repellent enough.

Great image. Baby throws up in Bl's mouth, BL retaliates by throwing up in babies mouth. Like a couple of baby birds.