Powerful gift for people with dementia: music
A CD player or iPod might not be the first gift that springs to mind for your family member with dementia. But a growing body of research says these sorts of devices might well be some of the best presents for them to receive.
Take the case of Harold, an 82-year-old man with advanced Alzheimer’s disease who lives in a nursing home. His wife of many years faithfully visits him daily. He has difficulty with word finding and can no longer complete full sentences. Often he says to his wife, “I want to tell you” and then stops. Alzheimer’s disease is a chronic neurodegenerative condition that affects memory, language and other areas of the brain.
So his wife was greatly surprised when a holiday caroling group came to the nursing home and he began singing the words to favorite Christmas songs. His spirit livened with the songs and he smiled. How could this be, his wife wondered, when he speaks only a few words in conversation? You might have heard other similar stories, such as the one about the woman with Alzheimer’s still leading songs in the choir at church.
Common elements in these stories are dementia and familiar music. Musical memory is different than other types of memory when it comes to Alzheimer’s disease, even in advanced stages of the disease. In a recent issue of the scientific journal Brain, Jacobsen and colleagues shed light on why. Using new technologies of brain imaging and disease biomarkers with young healthy subjects and subjects with Alzheimer’s disease, researchers identified areas of the brain that encode well-known music. They found that these areas were well preserved in Alzheimer’s subjects (i.e., low grey matter atrophy and hypometabolism values). In fact, the areas used for familiar music appeared as if unaffected or in a very early stage of the disease.
There are many known benefits to music. For people with dementia, studies have shown that music can improve behavioral and psychological symptoms such as lessening of anxiety and agitation. Referred to as the “Vivaldi effect”, the “Four Seasons” by Antonio Vivaldi, a set of four violin concertos, has been found to increase alertness levels in nursing home residents in several studies. In some cases, music has resulted in behavioral improvements that eliminated the use of additional medication.
There is evidence too that music can help unlock memories and boost overall brain activity in people with dementia. A number of studies have reported improvement of autobiographical memory when music is playing (Larkin, 2001; Reglio, 2012, Mohamad et al, 2012). Autobiographical memory is the retrieval of personal memories such as the grade school one attended or name of a longtime neighbor.
Music therapy for dementia patients is on the increase internationally. A program called the “Lost Chord” in the United Kingdom, for example, uses therapeutic music sessions with musicians to increase the quality of life for elders with dementia. The American Music Therapy Association maintains a list of board-certified music therapists.
It can be amazingly easy for caregivers to give the gift of music. Family members or close friends can develop a playlist of the individual’s personal music preferences. Simply playing favorite music or singing familiar songs can have positive results. New options are available too with iPods and Smartphones. “MusicFirst” is a new therapeutic music app for Alzheimer’s patients available at the iTunes App Store. A nonprofit called “Music and Memory” gives iPods with customized music to nursing home residents with dementia. The Internet has lists of popular music by year to help develop customized playlists. Anyone for Glenn Miller’s “In the Mood” or “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby? Or Elvis Presley’s “Love Me Tender”?
This research gives ideas for how to spend quality time with those who have dementia over the holidays. Adding music to visits and time together can enhance well-being for both the caregiver and care recipient. Harold’s wife now has a CD player at the nursing home and brings music CDs from home that they enjoyed in the past. They hold hands and use their hands to “dance” together to the music. And Harold’s wife is enjoying something she had been sorely missing: his smile.
Susan Gallagher-Lepak is a professor of nursing at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.