Seniors Just Want to Have Fun!

Here I am in the middle of my Singing For Health class CHORUS LINE! Clearly, Seniors like to have fun, too, and I drag everybody up 'on stage' even if they are in a walker! We sing, we dance, we hoop and holler -- we just spend 45 minutes supporting each other and having a silly, raucous time. And guess what - a lot of the folks who haven't talked in months are singing, moving, laughing. Music opens everyone's heart and accesses parts of the brain that regular therapy can't. It's marvelous!

Music and Alzheimer's Research

Music may help Alzheimer's disease

The early symptoms of Alzheimer's--memory loss, forgetfulness--are so similar to those of natural aging that the disease is often diagnosed too late for effective treatment.  Now an MIT team has created music software to help diagnose the disease much sooner.  Users compose songs and then play a Concentration-like game that involves recalling excerpts of melody pairs and other memory tasks.  You can track your own results and watch for signs of more serious cognitive decline.  "If Alzheimer's can be detected early, medication and mental exercises have a better chance of stabilizing memory loss or at least slowing down the progression," says one of the software's creators, Adam Boulanger, Ph.D.  The software is currently in clinical trials, but researchers hope to release a commercial version to the public within the year.

From AARP: The Magazine, August/September 2012  http://aarp.org/magazine

Music Improves Memory for Dementia and Alzheimer's Patients

Music Can Help People with Dementia

Music is so powerful!  I have worked with dementia patients, and even though they may not have spoken for years, the moment I begin engaging them with music and songs - they begin singing along!  Read more from this Los Angeles Times article.

Memory: The progressive degeneration of memory in Alzheimer's disease cannot be reversed or slowed by any intervention. But music can temporarily unlock memories for patients who have lost their grip on nearly every other detail of their daily life and relationships.

Patients in the depths of Alzheimer's and other dementias regularly respond to — and even play and sing — music from their distant past, without missing a word or a note. Nursing homes have seized upon that fact, exposing residents to the songs of their childhoods or courtship years to help reunite spouses in dancing and singing and try to coax dementia sufferers from their isolation. One study even found that dementia patients allowed to punch a button on a robot and hear a familiar song experienced improved mood, function and performance on musical memory games.