Curated music playlists of favourite music could be the key in helping us deal with the stress of everyday life.
This explains why memories and experiences that are linked to favourite music are often preserved for people with such conditions.
We found that when people with dementia repeatedly listened to their favourite music, their heart rate and movements changed in direct response.
Other researchers have even begun testing the effects of music training programmes to support cognition for people with dementia.
So, music is likely to continue to be a useful medical treatment for people with dementia.
Our daily lives are intertwined with music. We can all see its power in boosting our mood, encouraging us to run more quickly, or lulling us to sleep. It follows that its use in medical treatment is growing.
Researchers have been making significant progress in using music to help patients with dementia, in addition to its proven benefits in treating cancer, managing chronic pain, and even aiding in the brain’s recovery following a stroke.
By strengthening everyone’s capacity to adjust and manage stress or adversity, it lowers patients’ anxiety and depression and enhances their and their carers’ wellbeing.
The cognitive function of older adults with dementia or memory problems can benefit greatly from music therapy, which includes playing, singing, or listening to music.
So why does music seem to exert such a strong influence on dementia patients?
Brain and music.
Approximately ten years ago, scientists found that listening to music involved processing information in several different parts of the brain. These included the motor (in charge of voluntary movement), cognitive (involved with perception, learning, and reaction), and limbic (which processes emotions and memory). This disproved theories that the brain processed music in a more limited way and provided an explanation for the peculiar neurological effects of music.
Music may also aid in the regeneration of the brain and its connections, according to research. It is possible that music could help people with dementia by repairing or strengthening damaged neural connections and cells, as many causes of dementia revolve around cell death in the brain.
However, the regenerative effect of music on the brain is not universal. Favorite and well-known music has been demonstrated to have the greatest influence on our emotions and is strongly associated with memory and feelings. This is due to the feel-good hormones that are released when we listen to our favorite music, which makes us feel good. Having carefully curated playlists of our favorite songs may be the secret to reducing the stress of daily life.
Because researchers have found that the brain regions associated with musical memories are less affected by Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia than other brain regions, this is pertinent to these conditions. People with such conditions tend to preserve memories and experiences associated with their favorite music, which explains why.
Additionally, listening to music can help people cope with their feelings of agitation, distress, and “sundowning,” which is the state in which a person is more confused in the afternoon and evening.
We and our colleagues at the Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research demonstrated the profound impact that music listening can have on individuals suffering from dementia in a small study. We discovered that when dementia patients listened to their favorite music over and over again, their heart rates and body movements changed in direct proportion.
This demonstrated how musical elements like rhythm and arrangement influenced people’s bodily reactions. As they sang along with the music or started thinking back on old stories or memories while listening to a song, their heart rates also changed. These modifications are significant because they demonstrate the ways in which music influences emotion, movement, and memory recall.
Research has also demonstrated that music listening improves the mood of individuals with dementia and reduces agitation, aggression, and anxiety. Regular music sessions even reduced the amount of medication they required.
Some researchers have even started examining how music training programs can help dementia patients’ cognitive abilities. As compared to those who only engaged in physical exercise, adults in the study demonstrated enhanced executive functioning (problem solving, emotion regulation, and attention), which has produced encouraging results thus far.
Therefore, music therapy is likely to remain a beneficial medical intervention for individuals suffering from dementia. The patient’s own music collection is crucial, according to what we currently know, and should be used in conjunction with other management strategies like taking medications that can slow the progression of dementia or help control its symptoms in order to promote wellbeing and self-care.
