The Benefits of Music Therapy for People with Alzheimer’s Disease

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English Culture and literature / 604-103-MQ

30 May. 2022

The Benefits of Music Therapy for People with Alzheimer’s Disease

Because of its particular properties, music can have multiple beneficial effects and even be used as a treatment option for different mental health issues, such as with Alzheimer’s disease. Indeed, according to a number of studies, music can help to retrieve memory, prevent depression, and improve well-being and quality of life in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. The effects and benefits of music on the brain of people affected by Alzheimer’s disease and the musical therapies that can be used for these people are something to consider.

Music maintains unique interactions with the brain making it a great tool to train memory. First, it is important to understand how music interacts with memory. There are two types of memory: implicit memory and explicit memory. Explicit memory is deliberate and conscious, while implicit memory is reactive and unintentional. Those are two completely separate systems and the implicit memory system remains generally untouched until the late stage of Alzheimer’s disease. According to a study led by Lutz Jancke at the University of Zurich, music has a positive effect on emotional memory, which in turn stimulates implicit memory.                                                                                                                

 Also, as discovered by a study conducted by Petr Janata from UC Davis, music enhances memory in the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that Alzheimer disease impacts last. This makes music easy to remember for people affected by Alzeihmer disease.

The particular relation between music and the brain can be used to help with memory in people affected by Azheimer disease. Music stimulates the hippocampus, the part of the brain that generates and retrieves memory and that is also the first region of the brain to be altered by Alzheimer. A study led by William Ford Thomson discovered that, through its stimulating effect, music can partially prevent memory loss and even increase the production of new neurons, improving verbal, cognitive, and reading skills.

Music is omnipresent in our lives and makes strong connections with emotions and memories. Songs are often linked to many of our most significant memories in our lives. When patients with Alzheimer’s disease listen to music and songs they were used to hearing in their past life and that are associated with significant memories, this helps them to retrieve memories that are buried deeper in their brain.

Music not only helps patients to recall happy events of their past but also how they felt in those moments. Music can also contribute to reinforcing academic memory. For example, a research study led by Brandon Ally in 2010 demonstrated that people with Alzheimer’s disease had the ability to better learn and memorize lyrics when associated with music versus not. This demonstrates the unique effects music can have on memory.

Music also has important benefits for the well-being and mood of people living with Alzheimer’s disease. A research study conducted by Teppo Särkämö at the University of Helsinki in Finland in 2015 revealed that listening to music, and even more singing and dancing with music, reduce depression and significantly improve patients’ mood, social interaction, as well as cognitive and motor skills. And these beneficial effects of music therapy were observed whether or not the patients had previous background in playing a music instrument.

Other studies led by Geneveve Dingle and Gonçalo Barradas and their teams in 2021 as well as Susann Eschrich in 2008 revealed that singing and listening to music bring several major benefits beyond those on memory such as improving emotional states and mood, increasing happiness state, and reducing nostalgia and anxiety. Furthermore, dancing and group singing also helps socialization and therefore reduces isolation. This makes music a great tool to prevent depression in people touched by the disease.

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