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CHAPTER 09 · Medical Problems of Musical Masters

Rounding with Ravel: His Neurology Revisited

Robert M. Pascuzzi, MD · Juliet L. King, PhD, ATR-BC, LPC, LMHC · Jared R. Brosch, MD

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Abstract

The neurological disorder of few composers has been the subject of greater attention than that of Maurice Ravel (1875-1937). During the final decade of his life, Ravel experienced a gradually progressive decline in neurological function. His evaluation by the neurologist extraordinaire Theophile Alajouanine (during Ravel’s final two years of life) documents the presence of aphasia and apraxia while noting a relative preservation of memory and comprehension. Observations by esteemed neurosurgeon Clovis Vincent, who performed Ravel’s fatal exploratory craniotomy, rule out a variety of structural and reversible diseases. The broad differential diagnosis favors degenerative brain disease. Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and primary progressive aphasia (PPA) represent likely diagnoses for which consensus has emerged amongst neurological experts. In this chapter, we approach Ravel’s illness as we would in clinical rounds in 2024, summarize the salient clinical evidence and diagnostic considerations in the context of contemporary understanding of FTD and PPA, and explore the relationship between his illness and his art.

Keywords

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Cite this chapter

Chapter references below omit unverified page ranges and chapter-specific DOIs.

APA

Pascuzzi, R. M., King, J. L., & Brosch, J. R. (2026). Rounding with Ravel: His Neurology Revisited. In P. L. Pearl & S. Arfaie (Eds.), Music, Medicine, and the Neurobiology of Creativity. Cambridge University Press.

AMA

Pascuzzi RM, King JL, Brosch JR. Rounding with Ravel: His Neurology Revisited. In: Pearl PL, Arfaie S, eds. Music, Medicine, and the Neurobiology of Creativity. Cambridge University Press; 2026.

Vancouver

Pascuzzi RM, King JL, Brosch JR. Rounding with Ravel: His Neurology Revisited. In: Pearl PL, Arfaie S, editors. Music, Medicine, and the Neurobiology of Creativity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2026.

Chicago

Pascuzzi, Robert M., Juliet L. King, and Jared R. Brosch. “Rounding with Ravel: His Neurology Revisited.” In Music, Medicine, and the Neurobiology of Creativity, edited by Phillip L. Pearl and Saman Arfaie. Cambridge University Press, 2026.

BibTeX

@incollection{chapter9_2026,
  author = {Pascuzzi, Robert M and King, Juliet L and Brosch, Jared R},
  title = {Rounding with Ravel: His Neurology Revisited},
  booktitle = {Music, Medicine, and the Neurobiology of Creativity},
  editor = {Pearl, Phillip L. and Arfaie, Saman},
  publisher = {Cambridge University Press},
  year = {2026}
}

Harvard

Pascuzzi, R. M., King, J. L. and Brosch, J. R. (2026) “Rounding with Ravel: His Neurology Revisited”, in Pearl, P.L. and Arfaie, S. (eds.) Music, Medicine, and the Neurobiology of Creativity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Robert M. Pascuzzi

Robert M. Pascuzzi

MD

Professor Emeritus of Neurology

Indiana University School of Medicine

Profile

Robert M. Pascuzzi is a professor in the Department of Neurology at Indiana University School of Medicine. He contributes medical and neurological perspectives on the lives of Maurice Ravel and Dmitri Shostakovich. These chapters examine how historical evidence and clinical reasoning can illuminate the illnesses of musical masters.

Scholarship & professional background

He earned his medical degree at Indiana University and undertook neurology residency and fellowship training at the University of Virginia. His clinical and educational career provides the medical foundation for his contributions to the volume’s studies of Maurice Ravel and Dmitri Shostakovich. These chapters place neurological interpretation alongside the historical evidence surrounding the composers’ lives and work.

Neurological education & honours

His educational work has received the American Neurological Association’s Distinguished Neurology Teaching Award (2001), Indiana University faculty and trustee teaching honours, and repeated Golden Apple Awards from graduating medical students. He chaired Indiana University’s Department of Neurology from 2004 to 2020 and has served as editor-in-chief of Seminars in Neurology.

Selected work & perspectives

Academic profile and professional work
Juliet L. King

Juliet L. King

PhD, ATR-BC, LPC, LMHC

Core Professor, Naropa University; Adjunct Associate Professor of Neurology, Indiana University

Naropa University · Indiana University · George Washington University (former faculty)

Profile

Juliet L. King is a Core Professor at Naropa University and Adjunct Associate Professor of Neurology at Indiana University School of Medicine. She previously served on the faculty of George Washington University. An art therapist and scholar, she contributes to the medical histories of Ravel and Shostakovich, and to the clinical applications of music and art therapy in cancer care.

Scholarship & professional background

Her training includes a master’s degree in art therapy and a doctorate in translational health sciences. She founded the graduate art therapy program at Indiana University’s Herron School of Art and Design, building clinical internship partnerships across the state. Her scholarship examines the relationships among art therapy, neuroscience, and trauma, including the use of mobile brain and body imaging to study artistic engagement. She has edited work on neuroscience-informed approaches to trauma treatment and is developing tools to make this knowledge more accessible to practitioners.

Selected work & perspectives

Academic profile and professional workArt therapy and mobile brain/body imaging
Jared R. Brosch

Jared R. Brosch

MD

Associate Professor of Clinical Neurology

Indiana University School of Medicine

Profile

Jared R. Brosch is an Associate Professor of Clinical Neurology at Indiana University School of Medicine. With Robert M. Pascuzzi and Juliet L. King, he revisits the neurological history of Maurice Ravel. Their chapter brings clinical interpretation to the study of a composer whose later illness raises enduring questions about music, language, and artistic expression.

Scholarship & professional background

Before entering medicine, he completed bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering at Purdue University and worked in medical-device development, including ultrasound technology. He subsequently earned his medical degree and completed neurological training at Indiana University. His clinical research focuses on neurodegenerative disease, including dementia-related trials and imaging, providing a contemporary clinical context for his writing about the neurological illnesses of composers.

In 2026, he was recognized with the OneAmerica Financial IU Health Foundation Master Clinician designation, the health system’s first endowed and named Master Clinician role. He leads Indiana University’s Brain Health Program and serves as a principal investigator on Alzheimer’s disease clinical trials, connecting emerging treatments with clinical care and support for patients and families.

Selected work & perspectives

Academic profile and professional workEducation and clinical research · Indiana UniversityEndowed Master Clinician appointment · IU Health, 2026