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PHOTO OPPORTUNITY: The Symphony Orchestra will record the epilepsy seizure composition from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 25, in 130 Murphy Hall.
LAWRENCE -- The University of Kansas Symphony Orchestra will present the first live performance of a composition that illustrates what happens in the brain during an epileptic seizure. The recording will occur from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 25, in 130 Murphy Hall.
Epilepsy affects one of every 100 people in the United States. It is one of the most frightening and least understood diseases of the brain, in large part because of the accompanying seizures. The researchers believe that by translating the brain's activity during an episode into an accessible medium, the disorder will become less frightening. They hope this improved understanding will lead to more funding for epilepsy research and reduce the stigma associated with people who have the disorder.
Deron McGee, associate professor of music and dance, Kip Haaheim, assistant professor of music and dance, and Ivan Osorio, associate professor of neurology and director of the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at KU Medical Center, have worked together to adapt Mozart's Symphony No. 40 in G Minor. Haaheim and McGee were able to shorten the music to reflect proportionally the actual length of a typical epileptic episode.
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