60 minutes music prodigy series#

And we didn’t see any significant activity there at all,” Limb explained of Whitaker’s brain activity while listening to a “boring” lecture. “Because he is blind we looked at his visual cortex. “So it was, you know, just very scary.”Īs Limb explained, he’s been using MRI scans to shed light on what’s going on inside Whitaker’s brain. “I think at the time, I didn’t think he was gonna make it,” she admitted. His mother May Whitaker was informed he had a 50-50 chance of survival.

60 minutes music prodigy series#

“Except rather than just wondering, I’m actually trying to answer the question.”īorn prematurely at 24 weeks, Whitaker weighed less than two pounds at birth and was beset by a series of health maladies. “I think anytime somebody watches Matthew play piano the first thing that you think is, How does he do that?” Limb told “60 Minutes”.

RELATED: Katy Perry Says She’d Be Down To Babysit 7-Year-Old Piano Prodigy After He Asked For Her Number (Exclusive) Charles Limb discussing why the 18-year-old pianist is the ideal subject to help answer this question. Whitaker was featured on Sunday’s edition of “60 Minutes”, with Dr. Matthew Whitaker is a blind piano prodigy who’s been entertaining audiences since he was 11 - and scientists want to learn what makes him so good.Īs “60 Minutes” reported, Whitaker is at the centre of a medical study exploring an intriguing question: How do the brains of exceptionally talented musicians work, and do they differ from those of average people?