Living at ProTem

Music Therapy

Neurologists at Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Center have found that music can actually awaken those with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. They’re finding that music therapy in dementia patients not only improves the lives of those with dementia but actually affects their ability to regain memory. This happens in two ways: 1. Music holds emotional memory. So hearing specific music from a specific time of life triggers that person’s emotional memory, which is about the most powerful form of memory we humans have. Emotional memory is located in the area of the amygdala and hippocampus of the brain in the caudal anterior cingulate, which are all parts of the “limbic system.” The limbic system is a group of structures in the brain that processes emotion and stores emotional memory. This is different than episodic memory, where memories of events are stored. Episodic memory is lost early in the course of dementia. What’s amazing about the hippocampus, amygdala, and anterior cingulate of the brain (all parts of the limbic system) is that this area endures through most of the damage of Alzheimer’s much longer than the parts of the brain where the damage is worst. 2. When people learn music, they remember it with muscle memory. Similar to the ability to write your signature. Repetitive movements and activities establish themselves in a part of the brain that isn’t destroyed by dementia. Since music draws on our muscle memory and also pulls at our emotions, it has the power to not only reclaim poignant memories, but it may also help dementia patients to learn new things. Linda McGuire, a gifted opera singer, began working with dementia patients by singing to them in hopes of improving their cognition. She says, “Musical ability and aptitude are two of the last remaining abilities of patients with Alzheimer’s disease.” She also embarked on an education in cognitive and behavioral neuroscience. With her colleague, Dr. Jane Flinn, a neuroscientist at George Mason University in VA, she conducted a study to compare the cognitive benefit of listening to familiar music vs. singing it. They formed a group of residents from an assisted living facility who had mild to moderate dementia, and a second group in a locked unit whose dementia was moderate to severe. Then they divided each group in half. Three days a week, they would have a 50-minute session where Linda led half of each group in singing familiar songs like The Sound of Music, When You Wish Upon a Star, and Somewhere Over the Rainbow. The other half of each group would listen and watch Linda lead. They tested each group’s cognition before they began. And again, after 4 months of these sessions three times a week. The sections of each group that only listened and watched experienced only mild improvement in cognition. But the sections that sang and participated showed significant improvement in cognition, with the most dramatic improvement being demonstrated in the residents with moderate to severe dementia. Their findings were presented at the Society for Neuroscience meeting in San Diego, November 9, 2013. Neurologists at Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Center tenaciously study why music has so much impact on memory. When they asked a group of people with dementia to memorize lyrics to a song, the patients found it difficult. But when the lyrics were sung to them over and over, they were much more capable of memorizing the song. These researchers discovered it was important that the tune was engaging, and fit well with the lyrics. While they haven’t studied this concept enough to prove it across the board yet, they’re excited to find that music seems to help dementia patients build new memories, which is a breathtaking consideration. Research like this feeds all that we do. Music therapy in dementia patients is demonstrating exciting outcomes. What’s more, our residents love it as much as the caregivers. Music is a special language of love, of hope, and of joy. Your loved one may have times of agitation that come from their frustration with the effects of dementia. Our quest is to learn more as neuroscience discovers more, so we can continue to develop our methods in ways that enhance cognition, memory, fulfillment, and joy.