A patient undergoing brain surgery plays the clarinet, allowing surgeons to instantly hear the impacts of the treatment as her ability to move her fingers improves immediately. pic.twitter.com/u4DIiTnFda
— ABC News (@ABC) October 22, 2025
UK woman plays clarinet during brain surgery to alleviate Parkinson’s symptoms
Doctors said the results were ‘instant’ on the operating table.
Denise Bacon, a retired speech and language therapist, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2014. The brain disorder causes tremour, slowness, and rigidity and worsens over time as the brain becomes increasingly damaged.
During the four-hour operation, Keyoumars Ashkan, a neurosurgery professor at King’s College London, performed DBS while Bacon stayed awake, her scalp and skull numbed by local anaesthetic.
Surgeons made holes in Bacon’s skull and implanted the electrodes, which were connected to a pacemaker-like pulse generator that delivered electrical impulses to Bacon’s brain, helping to reduce her symptoms.