Music is
a powerful medium that moves us physically and mentally. It has the power to
transport us back to an earlier time or give us a sense of dejavu. Music has always
been known to enhance our mood, but a new study reports that music may help
preserve and even enhance cognitive function in elderly patients with mild to
moderate dementia.
The findings
of the study, conducted by researchers from University of Helsinki, Finland,
and published in the Journal of Alzheimer's
Disease, could lead to better dementia
care for the elderly.
Lead
author of the study Dr. Teppo Sarkamo, a specialist in cognitive brain
research, behavioral science and music research said,
“Our findings
suggest that musical leisure activities could be easily applied and widely used
in dementia care and rehabilitation.”
For the
study, the researchers looked at the effects of musical coachingto 89 patients with mild to moderate dementia when they joined the 10-week
intervention along with their caregivers. They were randomly assigned to one of
three groups. Factors such as, participants’ age, dementia severity, care
situation, and previous musical experience were taken into account.
The
first group of pairs went through 10 weeks of singing, the second group of
pairs focused only on listening to music and the third group acted as a control
group, which involved standard care only.
Evaluations
taken after 9 months into the trial showed that memory, executive function,
orientation and mood already improved in the groups receiving musical coaching
compared with the control group. Executive function helps us focus attention,
plan, remember and manage several tasks at the same time.
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The
researchers also discovered that patients with mild dementia and below 80 years
old benefited the most for memory, executive function and orientation by
singing. For the patients with more advanced form of dementia, music listening
led to the most cognitive enhancements.
Furthermore,
singing and music listening also relieved depression for patients with mild Alzheimer's-type
dementia, compared with the control group receiving standard care.
Another
interesting fact noted by the researchers was that the patients’ musical
background made no difference in the results.
Researchers
advise that patients with dementia shouldengage in musical activities during the early stages of the disorder. Dr.
Sarkamo even advises patients that they should be encouraged by their caregivers
to sing regularly or join a community choir.
“Given
the increasing global prevalence and burden of dementia and the limited
resources in public health care for persons with dementia and their family
caregivers, it is important to find alternative ways to maintain and stimulate
cognitive, emotional and social well-being in this population.” said Dr.
Sarkamo.
“Especially stimulating and engaging activities, such as singing, seem to be very promising for maintaining memory functioning in the early stages of dementia.”
“In the later stages of dementia when the cognitive deficits
are more severe, music listening could be a more easily applicable way,”
Sarkamo concluded.