How Music Impacts the Brains of Dementia Patients

When a senior loved one starts to show signs of memory loss, there isn’t anything we wouldn’t give to find a way to engage their minds and help them remember.

And music has emerged as an important and useful tool in doing just that.

Benefits of Music for Dementia Patients

According to studies, dementia sufferers have more success remembering and processing thoughts during and after listening to songs than they do when music isn’t a part of their day. One theory behind this phenomenon is that songs are arranged in a similar way to how our brains organize thoughts. Listening to melodies helps us move through the cognitive process and clears mental fog.

Have you ever heard a song on the radio that you haven’t even thought about for 20 years, but still you remember every word? That’s a perfect example of how music profoundly enhances our ability to remember. Thinking in a melodic pattern helps us to anticipate the information that comes next, just like the members of a band remember the notes they need to play when they’re on stage.

According to researchers from Harvard University and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, because music has such a close tie to how we learn and recall information, it has served as a successful way of teaching stroke victims to speak again. Doctors and therapists encourage patients to sing the words they want to speak then later, and once they’ve created new cognitive pathways, subtract the melody. According to the report, this was the method used by physicians and therapists who helped former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords relearn how to speak after suffering a devastating brain injury during an assassination attempt.

Related studies have found that playing music for memory care patients not only helps them enhance their powers of recollection and strengthen their cognitive abilities, but it also helps to soothe anxious and agitated feelings as well as depression that often accompanies dementia.

Other ways music helps improve brain function:

• Can help stimulate neurons by triggering emotions– for example, reminding us of times when we fell in love, the fun from summers past, milestones in our lives and people we’ve known.
• Activates the brain’s reward system which releases dopamine, a neurotransmitter that not only makes us feel happy, but may also help reduce age-related cognitive and motor function decline.
• Works to reduce stress, which may reduce the rate of neurodegeneration in dementia and Alzheimer’s sufferers. This may also help to bolster the immune system, improving seniors’ overall health, according to studies.

Now that we’ve established that music can have a remarkable effect on our senior loved ones experiencing dementia symptoms, how can we use it to help them? First, if their memory care facility offers a music therapy program such as the ones at Bethesda, make sure they’re enrolled in it. But you can also immerse them in melodies by helping them connect to soothing sounds throughout the day.

Ways to add music to a senior’s life:

• Seniors can sometimes be resistant to new technology, and the effects of Alzheimer’s Disease or other forms of dementia and memory loss can make it even more difficult for them to learn how to use new types of equipment. But you can keep things simple for them by purchasing an assistive technology music player specially designed for people with cognitive impairment. Several options available include music players preloaded with a variety of traditional songs that can be started or stopped with the touch of only one button.
• Similarly, if Mom or Dad has a favorite radio station they like to listen to, you can buy a dementia-friendly radio that can be pre-tuned to the frequency of their choice. When they want to start or stop the music, they can do it with one touch.
• If they’re comfortable operating a simple MP3 player, you can achieve the same results as the specialized devices by creating playlists of your senior loved one’s favorite songs. This option allows the flexibility to add to and alter the playlist from time to time to suit the season, your elderly parent’s mood or just to give them some variety.

One of the best parts about the positive impact of music for dementia patients is that there are no restrictions to the types of songs that provide benefits. Whether your senior loved one prefers country music, show tunes, rock and roll, or religious hymns, the results are still the same. So, if your senior loved one is dealing with dementia, tune them in to the benefits of music therapy.

Memory loss is never one-size-fits-all — take the time to explore new tactics to strengthen memory. For more tips and tricks for caregiving, visit our Alzheimer’s & Dementia blog.