Musicogenic seizure, also known as music-induced seizure, is a rare type of seizure, with an estimated prevalence of 1 in 10,000,000 individuals, that arises from disorganized or abnormal brain electrical activity when a person hears or is exposed to a specific type of sound or musical stimuli.[1][2] There are challenges when diagnosing a music-induced seizure due to the broad scope of triggers, and time delay between a stimulus and seizure.[3][4] In addition, the causes of musicogenic seizures are not well-established as solely limited cases and research have been discovered and conducted respectively.[1] Nevertheless, the current understanding of the mechanism behind musicogenic seizure is that music triggers the part of the brain that is responsible for evoking an emotion associated with that music.[1] Dysfunction in this system leads to an abnormal release of dopamine, eventually inducing seizure.[5]
Currently, there are diverse intervention strategies that patients can choose from depending on their situations. They can have surgery to remove the region of the brain that generates a seizure.[6]Behavioral therapy is also available; patients are trained to gain emotional control to reduce the frequency of seizure.[1] Medications like carbamazepine and phenytoin (medication for general seizure) also suggest effectiveness to mitigate music-induced seizures.[7]
^Salimpoor, Valorie N; Benovoy, Mitchel; Larcher, Kevin; Dagher, Alain; Zatorre, Robert J (2011). "Anatomically distinct dopamine release during anticipation and experience of peak emotion to music". Nature Neuroscience. 14 (2): 257–262. doi:10.1038/nn.2726. ISSN1097-6256. PMID21217764. S2CID205433454.
^Rohan, Deirdre; Cunningham, Anthony J. (2002). "A Randomized, Controlled Trial of Surgery for Temporal-Lobe Epilepsy". Survey of Anesthesiology. 46 (3): 142–143. doi:10.1097/00132586-200206000-00024. ISSN0039-6206.