Using Music To Stimulate Alzheimer’s Patients
A new study out of University of California, Davis, shows that memory, music and emotions are all activated out of the same region of the brain, which may impact the future of Alzheimer’s. 
According to the study’s director, Petr Janata, patients who have difficulty with their memory still respond to music. Music and songs take us back to different places in time, and help us remember things in vivid detail. And the part of the brain that controls and is impacted by music, the prefrontal cortex, is usually one of the last areas to be affected by Alzheimer’s disease.
As a caregiver, consider playing familiar favorites of the person you are caregiving.
- Who are their favorite artists?
- What are their favorite songs?
- What songs will trigger happy memories from the past?
While your loved one may not be able to play the music on their own, having a simple CD player handy, or an iPod with speaker system will make it easy to play any time of the day. It may help you, especially during stressful periods.
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One Response to “Using Music To Stimulate Alzheimer’s Patients”
Rachel Leonard
March 22nd, 2010
Wanted to share a blog post I recently wrote about my grandmother who suffers from Alzheimer’s, and doesn’t recognize who anyone is, but still knows the lyrics to her favorite Frank Sinatra:
http://www.rachelleonard.com/my_right_brain/2010/03/loving-grandma.html
Music is amazing!