Tuesday Afternoon Diversion: Fiddling During Brain Surgery

By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Aug 19, 2014 7:55PM

Meet Roger Frisch, a violinist with the Minnesota Orchestra. When Frisch discovered his hand trembling whenever he drew his bow across the strings of his violin, he had tests conducted and discovered he had a condition known as "essential tremor."

Surgeons at the Mayo Clinic decided to insert an electrode in Frisch's thalamus to help ease his tremors. Problem was they didn't know if the procedure would work unless Frisch could play his violin while undergoing surgery. So Frisch played a violin while the electrode was being inserted.