Perfect Pitch in a Pill

[darkrei9n]

I'd do it to. I have little to no sense of pitch whatsoever. I mean if you play two Es at different octaves I would not be able to tell you that they were both an E even if you told me what one of those notes were. Its that bad. I can't even tune my drums without a tuner because I won't be able to get them in tune with each other.

 

[Vision]

As a party trick, I usually play along with whatever the radio is playing at the time. If a guitar is in hand, it is totally easy to figure out the song by ear.

However...

I know someone with perfect pitch. He is a record engineer who has produced some relatively big names in music. (I asked him to sing "D" once, and my tuner confirmed he indeed sang a "D". ....ing crazy.) Anyway, music drives him batty... everything is out of tune and off key. Think of all music sounding like Avenged Sevenfold, lol... totally horrible and not "quite" the note it needs to be.

Perfect pitch would be a curse, I would think.

 

[DiegusMaximus32]

If this works, cool. If not, whatever. Honestly, just put in the time, and your brain is plastic enough to change so that you can learn whatever. They say that learning a new language or instrument is the best way to fight Alzheimer's Dementia, meaning learning AT AN ADVANCED AGE. Your brain is incredibly plastic at all times in your life, provided you want to learn something.

But if this pill does what it is purported to and won't destroy me in the process, hey sign me up!

 

[Diet Kirk]

Best thing about the side effects:

"Abnormal Dreams" might make for some creative writing, but the potential "thudding noise in the ears" would probably become unbearable from what I've heard above if it wasn't in tune!!!!

 

[12enoB]

The folks at science based medicine did an article on this today.

The Limits of Neuroplasticity « Science-Based Medicine

"I think they are overstating their conclusions. I would have thrown in at least a “possibly” in there, given the extremely preliminary nature of their results. But again, assuming the results hold up, it is reasonable to speculate about mechanisms.

I would also note that valproic acid is a serious drug with serious side effect, including sedation, weight gain, and foggy mentation. As an anti-seizure drug it also carries the possibility of withdrawal seizures if stopped suddenly. I doubt it would have a net cognitive benefit if taken regularly, which is another reason why I am suspicious of the findings of this study."