Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia, affecting patients over the age of 65. It might be easy to think that music therapy for Alzheimer’s dementia is well-intentioned and kindhearted, certainly, but ultimately not all that helpful against such a destructive disease. But there’s an enormous amount of anecdotal evidence that music therapy can significantly help many people with Alzheimer’s, with research beginning to confirm these observations and analyzing how and why music therapy works. Therapists are learning more about how to use music to access parts of the mind that remain largely unaffected, even as Alzheimer’s disease devastates other areas of the brain, with a few small studies confirming this effect through the use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and other imaging methods.
Music Therapy for Alzheimer’s Patients
Studies show music therapy improves a patient’s focus, improves their ability to communicate with those close to them, and may lower their dependence on psychiatric drugs. While enrolling people with dementia into clinical trials has proved challenging, research, such as a review, has found that music therapy can lead to improvements in behavioral, cognitive, and social functioning — helping alleviate anxiety and depression and reducing the use of anti-anxiety and antipsychotic medication in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. As everyone sings together it becomes clear that a person with Alzheimer’s is still a person, and not just their disease. Even people with dementia who have trouble finding the right words in conversation may easily recall lyrics to a familiar song. As dementia advances, music’s calming quality can decrease agitation during anxiety-producing events of daily life and make transitions less fraught for those with Alzheimer’s and their caregivers.
How Personalized Music Reawakens the Brain
The goal of finding personally meaningful music has led to a new type of therapy that is uniquely suited to the digital age. Music & Memory hinges on the unique power of songs that are specific to each patient’s personal preferences and history. Giving someone with dementia the opportunity to listen to “their” songs through headphones connected to the phone or other portable listening devices can arouse strong positive emotions and stimulate the brain. Raising slumped heads, tapping feet, pushing walkers to the side and dancing, or even in one remarkable case sharing detailed childhood memories — while listening joyfully helps in boosting their mental ability.
