Woman Removes Part of Brain To Escape Ne-Yo

The brain is a fascinating thing, especially so when it malfunctions. In cases of the brain not working quite, or not at all, as it should it’s possible to see just how intricate, complex, powerful, and in many ways fragile the brain really is. It’s fucking terrifying, and I love it. Life, reality, existence and the fundamental core chaotic chemical accident that is you, can all be sent streaming off kilter, or completely rewritten by the smallest spanner in the works.

In the case of this wee bit of brain related shenanigans, because brains just wanna have fun, it is musicogenic epilepsy. A quick bit of what the fuck; musicogenic epilepsy is a form of reflexive epilepsy in which seizures are triggered by music or specific frequencies. The levels of sensitivity vary, and it can be anything as minute as a specific vocal tone.

ne-yo epilepsy

This is the case for Zoe Fennessy whose sound related seizures are specifically triggered by Ne-Yo’s voice… yeah. Here, let’s let Zoe explain;

“I’ll be walking around the supermarket doing my food shopping and I have to put my earphones in to listen to my own music just in case it comes on. It’s the same with most shops. I have to walk in with my ear phones in at first just to make sure they don’t have Ne-Yo on.”

What with her condition being Ne-Yo specific, at 26 she had a good number of years with her musicogenic epilepsy unbeknownst to even here. Then, of course, fucking Ne-Yo just had to go an be successful, didn’t he? Selfish prick.

“It took me a while to realise that they were being triggered by his songs, and I think it wasn’t until I had heard it for about the 15th time that it finally twigged what was going on. The song was really popular and I went to my consultant and I said ‘I know this sounds extremely bizarre, but every time I hear this song I have a seizure’. He said it was fascinating and that he had never heard anything like it, and I said that while it might be fascinating, I was really struggling – the song was everywhere at the time.”

Having had just about enough of Ne-Yo induced seizures, Zoe underwent surgery to remove a portion of her left temporal lobe ‘where doctors thought the seizures may originate.’ FUCK. THAT. I’m not letting people get all up in my skull and trim off themselves a nice slice of my grey matter for a fucking ‘may’. Nope, no, nuh. I’ve seen One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Also, the operation only reduced her symptoms, not completely eradicated them.

Anyhoo, we can all laugh and so can Zoe, but there’s a big but (no, not Kim Kardashian’s);

“People might think it is funny – and I can laugh at it myself – but it has taken over my life. It’s ruined my life.”

Zoe currently lives in fear of Ne-Yo releasing a best of that goes supernova in popularity. As we all do. So, whilst you chuckle to yourself about Zoe’s predicament, think this over, you might have musicogenic epilepsy but just haven’t heard the voice that triggers it yet. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

be afraid be very afraid

P.S. It’s not just voices, as stated it’s sound frequencies, so it could be anything. It could be an instrument. At this point you’re thinking, ‘I have heard all instruments, I’m safe.’ Firstly, fuck you, you haven’t. Secondly, instruments are getting invented all the time, just like the SEX WHALE’S SEX SOUNDS FROM OUTTERSPACE THAT IS THE YAYBAHAR.

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