Over my head, I hear music in the air! . . . or your IPod will cause you to hallucinate

A British audiology expert, named Dr. Aziz is warning that listening to music at high volume causes the brain to hear phantom music. This is different from the common occurrence of having a song "stuck" in your head because the sound is continuous and appears real.  Dr Aziz, whose research involving 30 sufferers is published this week in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, said: "Having a song in your head every now and then is quite normal but musical hallucinations can be quite distressing." He predicted the condition will become more common as people are inundated with music from their iPods, radios and TVs, plus music played in public places.

"People who are bombarded by music tend to hear music," said Dr Aziz. "I suspect the rates of hallucinations in orchestral players will be higher than normal. So, as we hear more music every day, cases will probably go up."

Mark Prigg writing in the Bristol Evening Standard reports that Aziz's research research suggests sound hallucinations occur when people move from a stimulusrich environment to one with few auditory stimuli - for instance, from using an iPod on the Tube to entering a quiet office. With no sound via the ears, the brain generates random impulses it interprets to be sound. It then matches these to memories of music and a song begins in the head. This may explain why Beethoven was able to compose after going deaf.

Is this a bad thing?  I guess that depends on what music your head decides to play!  Some older folks in Britain are reported to be quite comforted by the phantom playing of Abide With Me.