Search Here

A former Chinese musician, known only as Mr Li, had lost the ability to play his guitar due to 'musician's dystonia', a rare neurological condition. But he regained his health and the ability to play while he was on the operating table in the process of a life-changing brain surgery, according to the Telegraph.

Li, who is from Changchun in China's north-eastern Jilin province, decided to undergo advanced brain surgery at a hospital in Shenzhen. He had lost his ability in the 1990s and was not able to use his muscles in his fingers or write music. His condition deteriorated over the years so that he had to undergo advanced brain surgery at the Shenzen Number Two Hospital.

Surgeons implanted battery-power electrodes into his brain, which is stated to last for a decade. But amazingly, he began to strum his guitar with Für Elise, the Beethoven classic, which spread a calm and sober atmosphere in the operating room, according to the Daily Mail.

"This surgery is different to other surgery," said Cai Xiaodong, the director of the neurology department at the hospital. "Patients need to play a song before the operation and then stay awake. After the electrodes have been implanted in the brain, patients then need to assess the result of the operation by playing another tune."

While he played, the surgeons decided the best places where his brain could be stimulated with the use of the implanted electrodes.

"Li has regained 80 percent of the use of his finger muscles," he said. "The remaining 20 percent will return through rehabilitation."

This was the first Chinese case and the seventh global one in which brain surgery successfully cured musician's dystonia, according to the South China Morning Post.