Music and Alzheimer's

My grandmother had Alzheimer's disease when I was a boy.  I never really got to know her personally due to the distance between us.  I grew up in Louisiana and my grandparents lived in Utah.  She passed away when I was 10 years old.  I do remember some experiences with her and recognized at the time the effects that Alzheimer's had on her.  It is a devastating illness that affects more than just an individual but their entire family.  Memory seems to altogether disappear and someone who you love all of a sudden has no memory of who you are.  My other grandma had dementia in the last few years of her life.  Very similar effects occurred with her memory and recognition of family.

Because of this personal experience with memory loss of loved ones, I was happy to learn of a new program founded by Dan Cohen that provides musical therapy to help those who suffer from Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia.  It is called Music & Memory.  As stated in its mission statement, it is a "non-profit organization that brings personalized music into the lives of the elderly or infirm through digital music technology, vastly improving quality of life."  The organization provides funding for iPods to be distributed to more than 60 nursing homes and other facilities across the United States and Canada.

Henry Listening to Music
Source:  Michael Rossato-Bennett, no date
Retrieved from:  http://musicandmemory.org, accessed on 3 Dec. 2012.

The premise behind the program is based off research done on the correlation between music and long-term memory.  Most likely you have experienced this phenomenon many times in your life.  Have you ever listened to an old song that you love only to have it spark specific memories from a former time of your life?  That happens to me all the time.  Certain songs that came out when I was in high school always seem to trigger my memory to that time of my life when I hear them nowadays.  The same thing happens to those suffering from Alzheimer's or dementia.  Music reawakens memories in their brain that otherwise seemed to have disappeared.  Michael Rossato-Bennett has produced a stunning documentary about the Music & Memory organization called "Alive Inside."  "Alive Inside" referring to the fact that elderly people who suffer from these illnesses are still alive inside and only need to be awakened.  On their website linked above they include one of their hopes in producing the documentary:  "Like many films that concentrate on a simple story but echo into larger stories, we feel this film raises questions about how we as a society care for the elderly and afflicted."

Here is a short video clip of "Alive Inside," summarizing the documentary.  My favorite part is seeing Henry come alive while listening to music:

Music & Memory Story - Short from Michael Rossato-Bennett on Vimeo.

I wonder what kind of effect music would have had on my grandmothers and what kind of mental spark it could have had on them.  I feel that this is an important topic that shouldn't be dismissed.  As a society we can do a better job to care for the elderly who have paved the way for us.

For more information on this subject check out these awesome articles:
"For Elders With Dementia, Musical Awakenings" on NPR.org
"Group Uses Music To Help Seniors With Alzheimer's Disease" on NY1.com
"Documentary 'Alive Inside' shows the healing power of music" on CNN.com