Music and Alzheimer's

By Judy Kirkwood

If you’ve ever felt , or witnessed, the unimaginable despair and sadness that accompanies seeing a loved one with Alzheimer’s, there could be good news for you. A new feature documentary, “Alive Inside: A Story of Music & Memory,” demonstrates the power of music to awaken and revive those suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia–and to bring them closer to being themselves once more..

A YouTube clip from the movie provides a tender scene of Henry, a nursing home patient with dementia, being brought “back to life” through the music from his past (Click here to see it.) In a nursing home for 10 years, hunched over and uncommunicative except for “yes” or “no” answers, he suddenly starts humming and moving when he is given a headset and iPod with music of his era. Afterwards, he is able to talk about the experience in a way that would have been impossible before. “What do you like about the music, Henry?” the interviewer asks. “It gives me the feeling of love and romance,” says Henry.

The film spotlights social worker Dan Cohen’s mission to bring iPods and the personal music experience to 16,000 nursing homes across the country so that patients can experience the emotional connections triggered through listening to their favorite music.

The effect lasts beyond when the music is turned off. Research shows that music not only retrieves old memories, it can help develop new memory. It’s not a cure for Alzheimer’s or dementia, but it does provide moments of lucidity and comfort for both the patient and family members. It also lets us know that even though someone may look like an empty shell from the outside, there is something going on inside.

Renowned neurologist and author Dr. Oliver Sacks adds his perspective to the film on how music functions inside our brains: “Music imprints itself on the brain deeper than any other human experience.” Music does indeed have “charms to soothe a savage breast/To soften Rocks, or bend a knotted Oak,” as William Congreve wrote in 1697.

My family has personal experience with this phenomenon. When my sister brought my father home from adult daycare every day, she used music to soothe his anxiety during the transition. Having gotten used to his peers and caregivers at the daycare home, he couldn’t understand why he was leaving. He didn’t remember having a wife. So my sister would start singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” or the Army Air Force anthem from dad’s WWII service, and he would relax and join in.

As they pulled into the driveway of the home he shared with my mother, he would say “I don’t live here; take me home.” Making some excuse of visiting someone, sis would get him into the house and onto the couch, sometimes with his coat and gloves still on, and put in a CD of romantic ballads from the years he had dated mom so he wouldn’t be anxious or defiant. Music took away the fear.

To learn more about the movie, visit the website, aliveinsidemovie.com. Although several clips are available the movie has not yet been released due to lack of funds. There is no lack of success, however, in anecdotal response of viewers after trying the technique. If Alzheimer’s or dementia has touched your life, consider making a donation of money or of an iPod.

In the meantime, get your playlist ready should you be in the same position as the patients in the film some day. I’ll want to hear music from The Beatles and other songs of my era. But I’ll still want to hear “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” so I can remember singing with my dad always. Even after all food and fluids had been stopped during the last week of his life when he was in and out of consciousness, he could be heard singing “Off we go into the wild blue yonder.”

Judy Kirkwood writes articles for print and web publications – national, regional, and local; is a contributing writer to Simply the Best and Boca Raton Observer magazines in South Florida; and plays on the beach and in the pool year-round. Visit her on Facebook @JudysFlorida and please visit www.JudysFlorida.com. 

Judy Kirkwood is a Contributing Writer and Forums Director for ThirdAge.