How Music 'Awakens' Alzheimer's Patients

[Javaman]

http://www.lifeslittlemysteries.com/2362-music-alzheimers-patients-memory.html

In a now-famous YouTube video, Henry, an elderly man with dementia, is transformed by the power of music. Initially slumped in a chair and unable to recognize his own daughter, Henry seems to be miraculously brought out of his stupor by a few minutes of music from his youth: He gushes about his favorite jazz singer, sings a few verses in a rich baritone and waxes poetic about how music makes him feel.

The poignant footage demonstrates a well-known but under-studied effect: Experts say music really can "awaken" Alzheimer's and dementia patients. Neurologists at the Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Center are leading the field in uncovering why music seems to affect memory and, more important, how music therapy can be used to improve the lives of those whose memories are fading.

Andrew Budson, associate director for research at the center, said there are currently two theories to explain the transformative effect of music on Henry and other dementia sufferers. First, music has emotional content, and so hearing it can trigger emotional memories — "some of the more powerful memories that we have," Budson told Life's Little Mysteries. These types of memories have the best chance of rising to the top in Alzheimer's patients.

Secondly, when people learn music, we store the knowledge as "procedural memory," the kind associated with routines and repetitive activities (also known as muscle memory). Dementia primarily destroys the parts of the brain responsible for episodic memory — the type that corresponds to specific events in our lives — but leaves those associated with procedural memory largely intact. Because we don't shed this memory as we grow old, we retain our appreciation for music.

more at link...

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I know when I would play Artie Shaw for my mom, I would notice a marked difference in her Alzheimers. It was almost as if she was her old self. However as soon as the music was off for a while...

[madokie]

1. I need to go turn the blues on

My favorite music bar none. It matters not who the artist is as long as its the blues
ETA: From Charley Musselwhite to Ray Charles

[bigtree]

2. my dad suffered from the disease and lived with us for a few years

He took an instant liking to Counting Crows Adam Duritz's voice and would recognize and call him out when a song of his played. "That's our boy, isn't it?" he'd say to me with a smile.

He was also transfixed by the 'funky blues.' I remember him with his head back and unusually lucid -- in a heavenly daze -- while listening to Bessie Smith and other old greats singing Christmas songs while he sat with his dog at his feet by our roaring fireplace. He was probably remembering back to his days in Black Mountain, N.C. as a boy in the basement of his daddy's speakeasy, nipping off of the still while he fetched drinks for the crowd upstairs.

k&r