Lorch Marjorie Perlman, Greenblatt Samuel H
Applied Linguistics and Communication, School of Social Sciences, History, and Philosophy, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK.
Department of Neurosurgery, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
Prog Brain Res. 2015;216:53-72. doi: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2014.11.003. Epub 2015 Jan 20.
In the second half of the nineteenth century, British clinicians made observations regarding the ability of individuals with impaired language abilities to sing or hum. One notable publication was of two cases of children briefly observed by John Hughlings Jackson (1835-1911) in 1871. These children were speechless but could produce some musical expression. Other such cases attracted the attention of Victorian clinicians who were actively pursuing theoretical questions regarding the organization of brain function and laterality. The presence of musical expression in children who failed to develop spoken language was seen as a notable symptom for early practitioners of pediatric neurology.
