Music Provides Positive Outcomes in Those with Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease is a brain disease characterized by a slow decline in memory and cognitive function. Alzheimer’s disease has become increasingly more prevalent as the leading cause of dementia, and is estimated to affect approximately 47 million people worldwide. The most common symptoms and warning signs of Alzheimer’s disease include:

• Memory loss that disrupts daily life such as misplacing things and getting lost
• Challenges in planning or problem solving, even difficulty completing familiar tasks
• Confusion with time or place
• Problems with words in speaking or writing, such as finding the right word
• Decreased or poor judgment
• Withdrawal from work or social activities
• Changes in mood and personality

 

Alzheimer’s Disease Treatments:

Traditional treatment options primarily focus on improving symptoms as well as reducing the rate of damage as the disease progresses. To date, available treatment options have been unable to significantly reverse the disease. Currently, there are several clinical research studies being conducted in hopes of eventually finding a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. Volunteers across the world are participating in clinical research studies not only for themselves, but for future generations. In fact, Alzheimer’s disease is currently one of the most targeted diseases for new medication development. While medical professionals are busy developing and testing novel drug treatments, other therapeutic options are being used to supplement where medicine falls short. One of these non-conventional therapeutic options is music therapy.

Music Therapy for Memory Loss:

According to researchers and the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, music can provide positive outcomes, even in the later stages of dementia. Music can shift mood, manage stress-induced agitation, stimulate positive interactions, facilitate cognitive function and coordinate motor movements. Experts say this happens because rhythmic and other well-rehearsed responses require little to no cognitive or mental processing since they are influenced by a part of the brain that responds directly to auditory rhythmic cues.

Most people associate music with important events and a wide array of emotions. The connection can be so strong that an individual’s brain pathways involved in retrieving long-term memories can be stimulated even in the later stages of disease upon hearing a familiar tune from earlier in their life. This can result in the person, who has long ago forgotten details from their earlier life, to be transported back in time to when they listened to that particular song. The reason music is tied so closely with memory is because it invokes activity in the limbic part of the brain, which is the last to be affected by Alzheimer’s disease. Prior experience with the musical piece is the greatest indicator of an individual’s likely response when that music is played. It is therefore important to tailor music therapy to the known musical preferences of the dementia patient, in effort to provide the best outcomes.

Ways to Incorporate Music Therapy:

Dr. Concetta M. Tomaino, a music therapist for those suffering from the effects of brain trauma or afflicted with degenerative brain conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, recommends the following ways to incorporate music therapy into treatment:

• Early stage of dementia: Go out dancing or dance in the house; listen to music the person liked in the past and compile a list of favorite recordings; encourage an individual who played an instrument to try it again; use song sheets or a karaoke player to sing.

• Middle stage: Use music as the individual is walking to improve balance or gait; utilize background music to enhance mood; relaxing music may reduce sundowning (late day confusion/agitation).

• Late stage: Utilize old favorites; use sing-alongs with tunes sung by rote memory; play “smooth” music to provide a sense of comfort; exercise to music; use rhythm-based activities; facial expressions can communicate feelings with the activities.

A senior-care specialist from North Carolina uses her laptop computer to play music that ranges from contemporary pop artists from the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s to music from older artists such as Frank Sinatra. “Hearing is my client’s world, but it’s not always music. I take her outside, and she loves to listen to the sounds of nature and tries to identify the birds by their songs,” the specialist said. “Whatever works with music or pleasurable sounds is worth a try.”

Medical director of Olympian Clinical Research, Dr. Kelley Yokum, has also noted the positive effects of music therapy stating that “for many people, music provides a common ground that allows them to connect emotions and memories which create that overall feeling of a shared human experience. It’s really amazing to think that music can make it possible for people to access those lost memories of emotional states and shared experiences even after a medical illness has taken that away from them.”

Music therapy has shown to be a beneficial addition to the daily activities of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. It can provide the patient with moments of peacefulness, remembrance, and joy in what can sometimes be a confusing world for them. Until a cure has been found for this disease, the addition of these non-conventional therapies can help to sustain a high quality of life.

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