Actress Mary Steenburgen's brain became 'musical' after surgical complication

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A medical mystery has plagued Actress Mary Steenburgen for a decade. She's now speaking about how she developed a knack for songwriting because of a surgery complication.

The Academy Award winner recently talked about it with IndieWire. Steenburgen said she had a minor operation on her arm in 2009. When she woke up, she said her brain had turned musical. "I felt strange as soon as the anesthesia started to wear off," Steenburgen told IndieWire. "The best way I can describe it is that it just felt like my brain was only music, and that everything anybody said to me became musical. All of my thoughts became musical. Every street sign became musical. I couldn't get my mind into any other mode."

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Steenburgen says she struggled with the change psychologically, until she decided to embrace it and started writing songs.

She signed with Universal to become a songwriter. One of her latest compositions is featured in the British movie "Wild Rose," which was released earlier this year.