Asking a patient to hum(哼唱)piano tunes and play fin instrument while undergoing brain surgery(手术)may sound like a strange request from a doctor．However，that is exactly what a team of brain specialists，led by Pilcher，requested Dan Fabbio to do．

    In 2015，the then 25-year-old musician was diagnosed with a brain tumor(肿瘤)，which was located in the part of the brain known to be active when people listen to and make music．“Removing a tumor from the brain can have significant consequences depending on its location，”Pilcher says．“Both the tumor and the operation can damage tissue and affect communication between different parts of the brain．”

    Fabbio，therefore，feared the surgery would cause him to lose his musical ability．To prevent that from happening，Pilcher and his colleague designed many tests，including asking Fabbio to listen to piano tunes and hum back during MRI scans．This enabled the physicians to locate the area that is vital for music and language processing and create a 3-D map of Fabbio's brain．

    Despite the great starting point，itwas not a perfect way to prevent possible damage to the．The only way was to keep the patient awake and ask him to hum piano tunes during the surgery so that the surgeons could identify the areas to avoid．While the surgery went smoothly，the real test came when Fabbio was asked to play a song on his saxophone．The tunehad been simplified to ensure that it would not require too much strength and cause harm to the stitches(缝线)in the brain．He played it faultlessly，and when he finished，the entire operating room erupted in applause．

    The researchers say that a year after the groundbreaking surgery，the young musician can once again hear tunes in everything—even his electric toothbrush．