This Bengaluru man plays guitar as surgeons burn his brain to correct neurological disorder

New Delhi: Here is an astonishing moment a patient has displayed – strumming guitar while doctors at a Bangaluru's hospital operated on his brain.

As per a report in Times of India, the 32-year-old techie-turned-musician played the instrument on the operation table even as surgeons 'burned' his brain to correct a neurological disorder.

It is said that the 7-hour surgery was performed to cure him from a condition called musician's dystonia.

Musician's dystonia, also known as Musician's cramp, is a neurological motor disorder characterised by involuntary, prolonged muscle contractions, which cause affected parts of the body to be twisted into abnormal postures. It occurs due to abnormal and involuntary flexion of muscles, because of rigorous use.

The disorder can affect a range of parts of the body including the neck, eyes, voice and hand. Usually, men are commonly affected by musician’s dystonia than women.

In this case, while the doctors "burned" parts of his brain that triggered the abnormal tremors in his muscles, the youth was made to play the guiter to help them locate the troublesome areas.

"This is a surgery where the part of the brain triggering abnormal tremors is destroyed by burning. Before the surgery, a special frame was fixed to his head with four screws going deep into the skull following which an MRI was conducted,” the TOI report quoted Dr Sharan Srinivasan, a stereotactic and functional neurosurgeon at Jain Institute of Movement Disorders and Stereotactic Neurosurgery, as saying.

These MRI images showed three coordinates of the target area in the brain (8-9cm deep, in this case) along with the entry point to the skull and the path to be followed during surgery.

"Based on these coordinates, a 14mm hole was drilled into the skull under local anaesthesia and a specialized electrode was passed into the brain following which it was stimulated to confirm the right location and prevent complications," he said.

The youth, who is cured now, said he was amazed to see his fingers improve magically on the operation table itself, adding that by the end of the surgery, his fingers were 100% cured and he could move them like before.

Within three days of surgery, he was able to walk out of the hospital and all set to play guitar again, the report added.

Brain surgery is often carried out on patients who are concious and is done in a similar manner as conventional surgery. Because by remaining awake, surgeons can continuously locate the exact location of the affected area without having accidentally strike some of the brain functions.