Music Therapy In Steve Mencher´s Music And The Brain

Following the developing of social sciences, everybody has started to get concerned about the issue if music is good for healthy body and mental recently. This phenomenon makes the music therapy becomes popular. Music therapy is defined as “ the therapeutic use of music as to reduce anxiety, improve cognitive functioning, promote physical rehabilitation, or enhance interpersonal communication that typically involves listening to music, singing, playing musical instruments, or composing music “ in the Merriam-Webster.com. In other words, through the activity of music people can improve physical or psychological disease that achieves cure and health.

“The American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) defines music therapy as ‘an established health profession in which music is used within a therapeutic relationship to address physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs of individuals’” (Barnett & Shale, 2013, p.48). Music Therapy (MT) is shown to be able to help people with many different kinds of mental health problems such as anxiety, stress, and minor cases of depression. There have been many studies done showing that MT is an effective form of therapy that can improve someone’s overall Quality Of Life (QOL). MT is known as an alternative technique therapy. It is often used instead of, or along with, medication to produce a result in the patience who need it. MT involves all aspects of the music process, including listening to, writing, singing, and analyzing music. Overall MT addresses physical and emotional problems and is used to enhance the life and health of the patient. This review is simply to inform readers of the effects music and MT has on mental health, specifically:

There are many different ways that we benefit from music. Music can inspire better self-esteem, and confidence. It’s a great way to set the mood, and a wonderful tool. Music therapy is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program (Gram, 2005). Music therapy can reach out to anyone, age, race, gender it doesn’t matter. Children, adolescents, adults, and the elderly with mental health needs can benefit from music therapy. As well as, those who have developmental and learning disabilities, those who suffer from Alzheimer's

It is surprising to realize the practice of one small therapy could impact the world in a big and positive way. Music therapy is the practice of using music to better the lives of people with motor, cognitive, and speech disabilities, along with surgical patients. This is achieved by redirecting neural networks in the brain with certain types of music selected for that specific patient. This is not a field for every musician however, only educated students who are board certified should practice music therapy for the safety for the patients. Although many people believe music therapy should not be considered a therapy, it should be considered a mainstream beneficial medical practice and used worldwide. It greatly increases the education of mentally disabled children, surgical patients have a safer option for pain reduction, and it creates employment for people who are interested in a career dealing with music.

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.

Dementia is an extremely common disease among the elderly, with 4 million Americans currently suffering from the Alzheimer’s type alone. Figures show that 3% of people between the ages of 65-74 suffer from the disease, rapidly increasing to 19% for the 75-84 age bracket, and as high as 47% for the over 85s. Therefore, it is easy to see why Dementia is such a large part of many people’s lives, whether they are suffering from the condition themselves, or have an elderly relative who requires full time care just to undertake simple day to day tasks. The disease can be extremely traumatic for the patient and their families, as the person, who may have been extremely lively and bright throughout their

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

As stated in the lectures, the emerging field of Music Therapy is being used to help treat Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s

Music is all around us. Everyone has a different taste in and connection with music. There are over 100 million songs in the world making music not very hard to find, which is an incredibly healthy thing to have amongst ourselves. Music has shown to strengthen learning ability and memory, raise IQ and academic performance, lower stress and improve health, and in general, make you happier. Throughout human history, music has been used to express and affect human emotion. Music not only helps enhance the well-being and intelligence of a person who is healthy but can also better a person who is ill. In 2014, the sixth leading cause of death in the United States was dementia (Nichols). On average, from the first-time symptoms appear, a person with

Dementia is a progressive illness that to date has no cure and currently influences over 35 million people around the world.In other words, this figure is estimated to increase significantly over the next two decades(Alzheimer Europe, 2015). Dementia in older people is associated with impairment of cognitive functions resulting in behavioural problems, depression, disorientation and memory loss. The definition is given by the National Health Service (2011), which states, “dementia is the loss of intellectual functions, particularly memory. It can result to decrease the ability to carry out day to day activities and changes in social behaviour.” There is growing interest in identifying non-pharmacological therapies effective against improving the quality of life with a dementia client group. My objective is to look for the possibilities of music therapy to reduce the effects of dementia, especially behavioural problems.It is a widespread treatment for the healthcare sector and consists of a process in which a music therapist uses music in psychological, psychiatric and physical conditions(Choi AN,2009). Indeed, multidimensional nature of music allows touching physical, psychological, spiritual and social levels of consciousness.Lin et al. (2011) reported that this quality which allows music to reach patients during the isolation of pain or

Music, whether it is classical, spiritual, modern, up-beat, with vocals or instruments, has different benefits when it comes to therapy and relaxation. In today’s society, you can hear music played in different restaurants, salons, therapy centers, offices, and at home, all for the benefit of a mode for relaxation or studying, for people of all ages and health conditions. By analyzing the benefits of musical therapy, one can correlate an important link from past studies on the benefits of helping those with dementia/Alzheimer’s disease, and how it assists with reducing agitation.

In order to understand how the studies of music and how it may or may not help the Alzheimer’s disease (AD) one would need the background of it. AD is a progressive neurological disease that leads to deterioration in cognitive abilities. People with AD encounter a progressive decline in their neurological capabilities, which manifest in language deficits, among other cognitive difficulties. The main failures in speech include naming difficulties, verbal fluency deficit, comprehension problems, and deterioration of spontaneous speech. People with AD tend to have discourse deficits, which include empty phrases, indefinite words, and repetitions. The speech of a person with the deficits is difficult for an interlocutor to follow. Thus, theses progressive language failures can lead people with AD to isolation. Due to their progressive inability to communicate, people with AD need interventions that address their communication needs and help prevent social isolation (Dass, A., & Amir, D. 2014).

According to the American Music Therapy Association (A.M.T.A.), music therapy is “the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program.” As a generally new and upcoming industry, music therapy is often underestimated. By incorporating different areas of the brain, music can reduce stress, ease

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).