Does Music Therapy Help Alzheimer's Patients Enhance Memory

Evidence based practice shows that music has had many positive effects on those with dementia when used as a form of treatment. In fact, some of the benefits that have resulted from music therapy are currently unachievable by other interventions. Music therapy is defined as “controlled use of music and its influence on the human being to aid in physiological, psychological and emotional integration of individual during treatment of an illness or disability” (Sung, Lee, Chang & Smith, 2011). Patients with advanced dementia display a variety of unfavorable behaviors that are unpleasant and difficult to

Dementia is the loss of cognition function. This condition is rapidly becoming a huge challenge as well a leading cause of mortality and morbidity of the 21st century, especially in the western world, and the current prediction rates of dementia indicate that it will worsen. The numbers of the individuals affected by the condition is anticipated to rise due to the ever expanding older population. Despite the menace of this condition, the power of music, particularly in singing to jerk or unlock past memories and kick start the grey matter of the brain is an incredible feature of dementia care. Using music seems to reach parts of the damaged patient’s brain in unique ways that other means cannot (Geretsegger et al. (2014). In senior adults with dementia, Alzheimer’s, and other mental disorders, music therapy has shown capability of reducing agitated or aggressive behavior, improve cooperation with day-to-day activities such as bathing, improved mood, and reduce symptoms of dementia. Besides, music therapy can reduce the

In this research paper, the effectiveness of music therapy on the cognitive degenerative disorder of dementia will be evaluated. To support the contention that music therapy is effective in treating the symptoms of dementia, research documenting this therapy’s impact on memory, emotions, and behavior will be examined. In order to provide a greater understanding of music therapy and dementia, these terms will be defined. Second, research will be examined to determine music therapy’s impact on the psychological and behavioral issues associated with dementia. Finally, a summary of music therapy’s benefits and an evaluation of its effectiveness in treating individuals afflicted with dementia will be discussed.

The last technique of MT for dementia is combining music with activities. There are many more additional studies using MT which includes not only just melody but also with other activities like dancing, rhythmic movements, singing, playing instruments and more. Gómez-Gallego M and his colleagues asked forty-two minor to moderate AD to not only listen to the music they enjoy but also to dance, greet, play instruments and go on. The outcome of six-week intervention indicated that music with other activities could improve the cognitive status and alleviates neuropsychiatric symptoms of AD patients

Along with varying music to achieve different beneficial results from Alzheimer’s patients, there are many different activities that can help engage and improve the mental state of patients with Alzheimer’s from the early stages of the disease’s

This is the playlist I created that I would listen to at ninety years old. After listening to the playlist it changed my mood,took me back through a lot of great times and even made me want to get up and dance. Music is a good source to link memorie and even help someone get through stressful times. Music can also help a person express their personality. This treatment modality is effective for people with dementia because it can be way to recover lost memories from childhood. If the person may have had a bad morning it can change their day. Certain songs may help connect signficiant events in their life. For some people if they enjoyed dancing dancing in the younger days would make them think about their dance moves. Dementia is defined as

Music activities can affect older adults’ perceptions of their quality of life (Mercadal-Brotons et al.). But, even before going to a form of therapy dementia can be treated in different ways. “I do not believe in going to straight to medicine if you find out what that person is truly trying to tell you and that takes a lot of work because a person with dementia who is acting out or having “behaviors” there is a reason. It’s out of character to strike out so you need to look at symptoms: are they in pain? are they hungry? are they tired? are they frustrated? Because they can’t tie their shoes anymore or they're overwhelmed because there is too much food on their plate and they aren't capable of picking up that food. So you have to really do detective work with that resident you have to figure out why and adjust whatever it is they need. So you adjust the environment instead of using medication. We go along with their reality they've created, we don't lie. We adjust to their environment instead of fighting with them.” says Mitchell. This confirms the fact that yes, medication can temporarily help a person dealing with dementia but that the best way to help them is to just live with them in their own reality. Dementia is a symptom from Alzheimer’s or a stroke. So, this person has already struggled enough and it is best to just be with them and not to fight them to bring them to a current

Three sophomore students in Kennebunk, Maine, are making a difference for the local elderly citizens through their music therapy organization: Project Playback. Alzheimer's and dementia have negative impacts on the human brain, and are more common in the elderly. Symptoms of each may include: extreme memory loss, difficulty thinking or understanding, delusion, disorientation, and overall mental decline. Jason Albaum (15), Juli Ennis (16), and Colby Ellis (16) have, for 3 years, been helping elderly Alzheimer's and dementia patients to bring back good memories from their earlier life by playing certain songs for them. Their contributions have made a positive impact on many elderly men & women’s lives. Recently, U.S. Cellular (through

I visited a patient with a dementia this week that normally responds well to music. Therefore, I utilized music therapy to engage the patient. My field instructor told me the genera of music that he enjoyed, so deciding on that was easy. I played several well known Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder songs. The intervention was successfully for about 15 minutes, in which he was tapping his foot and singing along. After 15 minutes, the patient began to lose focus and fell asleep. I would still say that the intervention was a success; it may have helped him fall asleep or have a pleasant dream.

Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease have been becoming more and more prominent in our society. he number are rising each day. Using music to better the lives of people with dementia and Alzheimer 's disease has been sweeping across the country. These people have been known to have a reduction of troublesome behaviors, enhanced emotional and cognitive skills, increased social skills, maintaining and improving active involvement, and have improved memory and language skills. The methods of how they listen to the music are different.

Music can play an important role in Alzheimer's care. Read on to find out three ways it can help:

People with dementia, Parkinson’s and other diseases that have brain damage chemistry also reconnect to the world and gain improved quality of life from listening to music that can trigger memories from important parts of their lives

I found the podcast for music’s effect on dementia patients very interesting and phenomenon. Aside from what lessens dementia, dementia is a general term for a decline in mental ability. In the podcast, Dan Cohen came up with a mnemonic device to allow dementia patients to remember things or enjoy things that they had forgotten due to their study findings. Mnemonic devices are memory devices that help learners recall larger pieces of information, the device in this case was the music because it helped the patients to regain lost memories. The man named Henry was astounding how he went from being slumped to singing something he heard or listened to a long time. Apparently they came to realize that by dementia patients listening to music they

Music has long been an interest of mine, it was always used as an escape from reality and can be very therapeutic; with that information I wanted to see if and how music therapy could be used to aide in patients who suffered from dementia. When conducting my own research I ran across an article titled “Connecting through music: A study of a spousal caregiver-directed music intervention designed to prolong fulfilling relationships in couples where one person has dementia”, this article caught my attention because it examined the relationship of couples where one of the spouses’ suffered from dementia and the other spouse was the primary caregiver. Music therapy is recognized to reduce agitation in patients with dementia (Dileo & Bradt, 2005; Helmes & Wiancko, 2006; Holmes et al., 2006; Ledger & Baker, 2007) and also leads to the sharing of meaningful experiences between caregivers and dementia patients in residential care settings. (Brotons, & Marti, 2003; Clair & Ebberts, 1997) Music is known to be a social phenomenon that stimulates people who have dementia, it is also helpful with memory and when the caregivers listen to music it enhances their mood to suggest that music addresses the needs of both the spousal caregiver and patient.

Aside from emotions, music can also have an impact on mental illnesses like ADHD, depression, and dementia. To combat depression, Cadena states that “music therapy alleviates pain and promotes calmness by slowing the heart rate and other bodily functions” (2). It provides the patient with a means of escape from the stressful and painful ordeals of life, and can even encourage them to recover from depression. To help children with ADHD, music therapy and medications can be used conjointly. Music, Cadena affirms, “can provide a calming, sedative affect and assist a child with focusing on the task at hand” (2). In regards to dementia, a study was done to investigate the effects that music would have on people with the disease. The findings demonstrated that “mean agitation levels were significantly lower while listening to music than before listening to the music” (3).