Music Therapy
http://www.brainfacts.org/Diseases-and-Disorders/Neurodegenerative-Disorders/2019/Music-as-Therapy-011719
Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most common forms of
dementia that effects memory, thinking, and behavior. In the U.S it is
estimated that about 5.7 million people have Alzheimer’s and there is not a
cure available. Leading caregivers to look for new ways to help their loved
ones have a better day to day life. The article talks about how music therapy
could help to manage symptoms like depression, anger, and agitation. Helping to
improve patients mood and behavior, while decreasing the amount of medication
they must take. The music does not cure the disease but does help to stimulate
the brain. Music uses many different areas of the brain at one time. The brain
must hear and process sounds, language, emotions, and if singing or dancing
plan movements. In one research study scientist scanned the brains of dementia
patients while they listened to music. One area the supplementary motor area
become active when familiar songs were played. Researchers also noticed that
music helped different areas of the brain communicate with each other becoming
more connected. The more connected the areas are the better cognitive
functions, language and memory, people have. The effects of the music were
still present for a while after the music stopped. Music therapy is not a cure
for Alzheimer’s but could greatly help patient’s everyday life by decreasing
the amount of medications they must take and by helping them have improved
brain function for a short time.
Even though there is no cure for dementia there are still
many treatments available for patients. In my abnormal psychology class we
learned that there are many different drugs to help with the treatment of symptoms
but there are many side effects associated with them. We learned the best way treatment
methods were those that did not involve medicines. Some of those treatments
were cognitive stimulation therapy, cognitive rehabilitation, and reminiscence
and life story work. Cognitive stimulation therapy involves doing activities
that are designed to improve memory, problem-solving and language skills.
Cognitive rehabilitation is when dementia patients use different parts of their
brains that are working to help the parts of the brain that are not working. Both
of these two treatments could be facilitated by music therapy. Lastly we
learned about reminiscence and life story work. This treatment involves
talking/thinking about things and events from the past, typically involving
music. Listening to music that they used to listen to in the past could help dementia
patients remember things they have previously experienced. Which could greatly
improve their daily life, by making them happy. I also learned in my psychology
of aging class that the caregivers face many difficulties when caring for
people with dementia. If music therapy can put people with dementia in a better
mood then their caregivers may feel a little peace and joy for a short time.
In Brain Rules by Dr. John Medina, one of the 13 principles was music. He described how a man with dementia would be more positive when he listened to music he was familiar with. This further supports the notion that patients with dementia will be less depressed, angry, and agitated while listening to their favorite tunes. My cognitive psychology class talked about how Alzheimer's disease accounts for nearly 50% of all neurocognitive disorders. The onset of Alzheimer's disease is usually in the 60's-70's age range. Alzheimer's disease includes aphasia, apraxia, and agnosia. We know from our Physiological psychology class that aphasia is related to language problems which includes Broca's and Wernicke's aphasia. Apraxia is a motor problem and agnosia is a failure to recognize objects. It's important to understand that Alzheimer's can affect all areas of the brain and the sooner Alzheimer's is recognized within an individual, the sooner that individual can start different treatments to slow down the rate of it's degeneration.
ReplyDeleteIn my Psych of Aging class, we are currently learning about the difficulties faced by both the one suffering from the disease and their family/caregivers. We watched the movie Still ALice, which showed how Alzheimer's Disease can show as early as your 30's, but your education level builds up cognitive reserve which hides the symptoms until later in life. Cognitive reserve is the ability for your brain to almost "make up" for other regions, similar to plasticity but not quite. Factors like high education levels, things that would make one "more intelligent," improve your cognitive reserve. Alice's doctor explained to her husband that there was no cure for the disease, only ways to "ease the difficulties faced." She had to take several pills a day. Alice as well as her family had an extremely difficult time adjusting to the lifestyle needed to deal with Alzheimer's. There were a lot of negative emotions and stress, so I wonder if music therapy or any of these other therapies should have been something that her doctor recommended to Alice instead of the handful of daily pills.
ReplyDeleteIn my Psychology of Aging class at Towson we had a large lesson on Dementia patients and how to give care to those who suffer from this disease. Many people with dementia becomes depressed, it's a common symptom of dementia. I learned that emotional support is so important for these patients because they feel loneliness, loss of self, anger and frustration. We watched a video in class of a wife showing her husband that suffers from dementia a memory box. The memory box included his favorite songs from the past and videos from his life. For the first time in months she was able to reconnect with her husband. The memories in the box are so strong and powerful her husband could even hum along, and sing along to some songs. I also found an article that relates music to dementia patients. From this article, I learned that music that has a personal significant to someone has a strong stimulus to engage responses in people even in late stages of dementia. Researchers found a strong connection between the brains auditory cortex and the limbic system where emotions are processed. The biological link makes it possible for sound to be processed almost immediately by the area of the brain that are associated with long term memory and emotion. Even when a progressive disease such as dementia takes place, certain areas of the brain are relatively intact such as the limbic system, and the hippocampus which retains long term memory and has retained emotional impact. Music triggers these areas which is why many dementia patients can reconnect for a moment or two!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.aplaceformom.com/planning-and-advice/articles/dementia-therapy-and-music
Musical therapy has the ability to evoke emotions that can arouse and encourage memories. A recent study demonstrated that Alzheimer's and Dementia patients have the ability to recall memories, emotions, and have an enhanced mental performance after singing classic hits from movies and musicals. In this study researchers lead half of the participants through a set of selected songs, while the other half simply listened to the music being played. After the session both groups of participants completed a cognitive ability and life satisfaction assessment, which resulted in those who were lead through the song scored significantly higher than those who listened on their own. Music seems to boost brain activity and there are reasons to believe that the music has the ability to reach the person who suffers from dementia. Singing is engaging which stimulates the left side of the brain and this allows there mind's in a sense to be more powerful. According to the Alzheimer's Foundation of America music shifts moods and offers positive interactions. Musical therapy is cost effective and can have significant positive impacts on those who suffer from Alzheimer's and Dementia and seems like an all around great alternative.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.alzheimers.net/why-music-boosts-brain-activity-in-dementia-patients/
Laurel,
ReplyDeleteAs a prospective geriatric occupational therapist I am so happy to read your article. I currently work in an assisted living memory care unit and music is one of the most commonly used techniques.
The American Psychological Association has conducted research that even shows improved health from music therapy with patient populations of premature infants, people with depression and Parkinson's disease.
Specifically a study was conducted showing that for some diseases (Parkinson's, fibromyalgia and depression) it is the vibrations, which are absorbed through the body, that help ease symptoms. They refer to this as vibroacoustic therapy. This involves using low frequency sound to produce vibrations that are easily applied to the body. The patient lies on a bed or mat which is embedded with speakers that transmit vibrations at frequencies that can be heard and felt. The study also examines thalmocortical dysrhythmia. This is a disorientation of rhythmic brain activity involving the thalamus and outer cortex, which are often involved in conditions such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. I think it is so neat that something as simple as music and vibrations can help restore brain communication among regions which can help with complex conditions and overall memory retrieval. Great post !
https://www.apa.org/monitor/2013/11/music
Sorry, I didn't realize I wasn't signed into my account!
DeleteLaurel,
As a prospective geriatric occupational therapist I am so happy to read your article. I currently work in an assisted living memory care unit and music is one of the most commonly used techniques.
The American Psychological Association has conducted research that even shows improved health from music therapy with patient populations of premature infants, people with depression and Parkinson's disease.
Specifically a study was conducted showing that for some diseases (Parkinson's, fibromyalgia and depression) it is the vibrations, which are absorbed through the body, that help ease symptoms. They refer to this as vibroacoustic therapy. This involves using low frequency sound to produce vibrations that are easily applied to the body. The patient lies on a bed or mat which is embedded with speakers that transmit vibrations at frequencies that can be heard and felt. The study also examines thalmocortical dysrhythmia. This is a disorientation of rhythmic brain activity involving the thalamus and outer cortex, which are often involved in conditions such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. I think it is so neat that something as simple as music and vibrations can help restore brain communication among regions which can help with complex conditions and overall memory retrieval. Great post !
https://www.apa.org/monitor/2013/11/music
Music is something that can make us overall better at doing things that stimulate our minds. While reading, "Brain Rules" by John Medina, he implemented a chapter about music. It was in this chapter that Medina explained that music can be very beneficial for our brain. According to Medina, "Music, ability to affect one's mood and subsequent behavior is a common theme in literature." It has the ability to change one's mood in an instant, and can also improve reading and writing skills. Scientists even believe that humans are born musical. It has become a part of living a healthy life, feel positive, and also helps others look at life with many different perspectives. Although, like stated in your original article, Laurel, there are no cures for many presented diseases. But when music is involved in helping patients cope, it is also seen as a healing agent. While listening, music can lower the dose on prescription medicine, and can also reduce stress and anxiety. Personally, I believe that music is a new wave of medicine that many people have not yet explored.
ReplyDeleteFrom what we have learned in Dr. John Medina’s book, Brain Rules, we know that music has the ability to affect/change ones mood and or behavior. He explains that music has the ability to make an individual’s brain perform better at a certain task by stimulating the mind. Medina explains the formal/classical music can boost an individual’s spatiotemporal skills/functioning, vocabulary, memory, sensory motor skills and more. Music therapy has the ability to enhance math scores, reading ability, social skills so it pretty much can improve one’s IQ. Music is constantly working the mind and making connections. I can see why music therapy can aid in reducing the risk of dementia because music is constantly working the brain and making these connections, it is stimulating the brain, keeping it ‘young’.
ReplyDeleteThe Brain Rules book taught that music therapy has been used for a very long time in our history. Hippocrates, who was one of the great Greek Physicians, prescribed music therapy to help mentally ill patients. During WWI, in the UK, hospitals would hire musicians to come and play music for the soldiers. This music seemed to not only relax the soldiers, but also helped lower pain levels. This worked so well, that the practice of hiring musicians to play for wounded soldiers continued into WWII. In a psychology class that I took a few semesters ago, we had learned that hospice patients who were on their death beds and had a morphine drip, were more relaxed and calm when there was a person playing soft live music in their rooms, than the morphine itself. We still do not know why music has such an effect on individuals. However, there is the idea of the "Arousal and Mood Hypothesis" that was published in 2001. This concept proposed that the three hormones are why music accelerates recovery. However, this is still just a hypothesis, but it is paving way for serious neuroscience and future research.
ReplyDelete