The Impact of Music on Alzheimer’s Patients’ Brains

Language deficits in people with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) manifest themselves, among other factors, in a progressive loss of spontaneous vocabulary. Patients with Alzheimer’s disease appear to speak less as the disease progresses, which causes their voices to become muddled. Nonetheless, the capacity to sing old songs remains intact at some point during the infection.
Music serves as a connection between people.
Music therapy plays a vital role in developing new coping methods for people with Alzheimer’s disease and others who care for them. According to Pallison et al. (2015), singing is the safest practice for most Alzheimer’s patients. According to their findings, the majority of patients with the disorder sang while on therapy music of the group, also included those with the failure of the language. Despite the loss of memory, patients with AD disease progresses to sing songs that are old which within their memory remains intact.

People possess memory not only restricted to the details of the song, like lyrics or the melody but also rich associations in song relation memory. According to Dassa & Amir (2014), these associations can be evoked by the song and encourage memories together with emerge of self-sense. In the context, music is an aid to memory that construes emotions that are long forgotten together with associations, hence being able to provide the patients with access to memories, moods, and thoughts. Songs also do possess a significant function in strengthening a belonging sense. Besides being an act of recreation, singing among the group stimulates cohesion as it serves as a method to curve solitude together with distress.

AD defines that when someone sings, he or she can acquire comfort whereby something that is familiar in the environment, as some activities tend to be frustrating together with demanding due to the decline of the cognitive (Ashida, 2000). In regards to this, Riddler (2003) emphasizes on the significance of making possibilities that are optimal to get into a conversation with the individual suffering with AD disease. Through using songs that are of significance to the individual, there is the reduction in anxiety found in the person hence necessitating dialogue from him/ her.

Various causes stand by the aid of music to those who are suffering from the disease of Alzheimer. Music does boost the activity of the brain whereby it is believed to have an impact to those possessing Alzheimer together with Dementia (Dassa & Amir, 2014). Music aids patients with Dementia to have a recall on the memories together with emotions. In their recent study, Dassa & Amir (2014) claim that affected individuals develop enhanced performance of their minds after singing or listening to hits that are classic and tunes of the show from musicals and movies (Dassa & Amir, 2014).

Researchers determine the impact that music possesses on patients of dementia, through leading almost half population of the participants through songs that are selected whereas the remaining half of the population listen to that music that continues being played. After the treatment of the musical, all those who were participating take the ability that was cognitive together with tests that present life satisfaction. Evidently, individuals who participate actively in singing have better scores than those who only listen.

Music Stimulates Brain Functions

When Dementia is in its late stage, those who suffer from it mostly lose the potential to have their emotions shared with those who give them care. Via music in the state of them being ambulatory, they can most likely dance whereby a dance can introduce kisses together with hugs and touching leading to memories and a feeling of security.

Singing is also termed as engaging. Sections of singing throughout the study involved more than the brain only but also the environment associated with singing. As singing do the activation of the left part of the brain, music being listened to sparks task in the other right side and looking into the class made visual areas within the brain activated. Due to much stimulation within the brain, those who were suffering did exercise a mind power that was more than usual.

Music can shift mood, control stress and have interactions that are positively stimulated (Pallison et al., 2015). The America’s foundations of the Alzheimer do possess a web page that is dedicated to therapy of the music in patients who have Alzheimer. They state that, when used appropriately, music has a potential to elevate moods, reduce stress, promote positive interactions, and coordinate both motor movements as well as cognitive functions (Campanelli et al., 2016). That is the reason behind music requiring small to no processing within the brain. Therefore, music singing does not need the function of the cognitive that is absent to most patients who have Dementia.

An aptitude of musical together with appreciation is double of the abilities remaining that are last in patients with Dementia. The dual abilities stay for a long time after passage of other abilities. Music is the best way to attack the disease and to have the person reached. Furthermore, Pallison et al. (2015) state that musical interventions are effective in improving patient’s moods and memory in patients.

Music Awakens patients with Alzheimer

In a video from YouTube, Henry who is a senior man with Dementia is changed by music power. Initially, he is seated down on a chair and cannot recognize her daughter. The man is seen to be miraculously transformed from his stupor after listening to a song he used to sing during his youth, flowing forth suddenly about the singer of jazz who was his favourite (Music and Memory, 2011). He does sing verses that are few in a baritone that is rich and poetically waxes the feeling brought about by the music.

The Poignant

Measurement demonstrates a real thought under-studied impact. Those who are experts do state that music can” awaken “those who are suffering dementia together with those who have Alzheimer (Kerer et al., 2013). Neurologists at the centre of Alzheimer’s disease at the University of Boston provide guidelines for the reasons behind the effect of music on memory and more significantly how the therapy transforms lives of individuals who have encountered the disorder of fading in their memory. According to Kerer et al. (2013), music stimulates memory, increases self-esteem and enables older adults with Alzheimer’s disease to have a positive social life. On the same note, Campanelli et al. (2016) state that exposure to music increases cognitive functions and memory.

There are initially two theories that do explain the transformative impact brought about by music to those who have Dementia. Music does possess content that is emotional, and upon hearing, triggers emotions. The second thing is that when individuals do learn music, the knowledge is stored in memory that is procedural, the type that is in association with routine and activities that are repetitive.

Read also: Reliable help in writing dissertation online from experienced PhD writers!

References

Ashida, S. (2000). The effect of reminiscence music therapy sessions on changes in depressive symptoms in elderly persons with dementia. Journal of Music Therapy, 37(3), 170-182.

Campanelli, A., Rendace, L., Parisi, F., D’antonio, F., Imbriano, L., Lena, C., & Trebbastoni, A. (2016). Musical cognition in Alzheimer’s disease: application of the Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1375(1), 28-37.

Dassa, A., & Amir, D. (2014). The role of singing familiar songs in encouraging conversation among people with middle to late stage Alzheimer’s disease. Journal of music therapy, 51(2), 131-153.

Kerer, M., Marksteiner, J., Hinterhuber, H., Mazzola, G., Kemmler, G., Bliem, H. R., & Weiss, E. M. (2013). Explicit (semantic) memory for music in patients with mild cognitive impairment and early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. Experimental aging research, 39(5), 536-564.

Music and Memory (2011). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyZQf0p73QM

Palisson, J., Roussel-Baclet, C., Maillet, D., Belin, C., Ankri, J., & Narme, P. (2015). Music enhances verbal episodic memory in Alzheimer’s disease. Journal of clinical and experimental neuropsychology, 37(5), 503-517.

Ridder, H. M. O. (2003). Singing dialogue: Music therapy with persons in advanced stages of dementia: A case study research design (Doctoral dissertation, Institute of Music Therapy, Aalborg University).