Was musical memory the secret to Brian Wilson's genius?

The Beach Boys film Love and Mercy portrays Brian Wilson as experiencing music playing constantly in his head. A growing body of research suggests that this rare phenomenon might have been behind his creative talent

There's a memorable scene in the Beach Boys film Love & Mercy, where the band are on a plane and Brian Wilson has a panic attack. Later on, Brian is back at home, recounting the experience to his brothers, and he says: "Before it happened, there was music in my head - like always - and then threatening voices started." As a psychologist who specialises in musical memory, those two little words - "like always" - really stood out for me.

It tells us that Brian Wilson had music going through his head almost continuously. Of course, many of us are able to activate a musical memory when required - for instance, if I asked you whether the third note in Happy Birthday was higher or lower than the fourth, you would probably be able to summon up the tune - but to have it playing constantly like that is rare: one survey we did suggests that less than 5% of people experience it.