title: Postmorbid learning of saxophone playing in a patient with frontotemporal dementia.
abstract: Some patients with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) show an artistic enhancement of musical abilities. However, no patients with FTD, to date, have been reported to be able to learn how to play a musical instrument after disease onset. Herein we describe a patient (J. K.) who had never played any musical instruments premorbidly, but who learned to play the saxophone after being diagnosed with a behavioral variant of FTD. He mastered a repertoire that consisted of 10 pieces of Korean folk songs over a period of three years. Furthermore, his saxophone skills were high enough to outperform other students in his class.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Neurology, Gangnam Severance Hospital , Yonsei University College of Medicine , Seoul , South Korea.
authors.forename: Hanna
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Juhee
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chin
authors.forename: Mee Kyung
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Suh
authors.forename: Hee Jin
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Yeo Jin
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Byoung Seok
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.forename: Na Kyung
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Eun Joo
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sang Won
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.forename: Duk L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Na
mesh_terms: D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D057180:Frontotemporal Dementia / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009048:Motor Skills; D009146:Music; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests
keywords: artistic talent; frontotemporal dementia; musical abilities; musical instrument; saxophone