Music and Alzheimer’s disease have a strange, powerful and fascinating relationship, patients at an advanced stage of the disease suddenly experience an amazing awakening when they listen to a youthful song, a song full of rhythm that, almost without knowing how, unlocks memories and cognitive knowledge. skills until they are wrapped in an ocean of wonderful emotions?
Neurologists comment that it is our brain that, for some unknown reason, retains intact areas related to long-term musical memory; psychologists, in turn, as well as therapists and family members who care for their loved ones on a daily basis, know that music is above all a comfort to those affected by a devastating illness.
- Listening to music or singing can be very emotionally and behaviorally beneficial in people with Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia.
Perhaps the name Glen Campbell is known to many, he was one of the icons of country music in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s, died not long ago, after a difficult life with Alzheimer’s disease, his story could be anyone’s. like that of many others who, having an incredible life, full of successes, difficulties and unforgettable moments, have had to face a disease that erases or confuses memories.
Glen Campbell’s case was one of the most clinically striking, for a very specific reason: he never stopped singing or playing guitar; in addition, in doing so, he regained some of his lucidity, to the point that he could take several walks. in which, for moments, he spoke to his fans commenting that, curiously, he had managed to get rid of alcohol, but not this disease?Detestable?.
A fascinating case, a story that invites you to wonder what’s behind this relationship between music and Alzheimer’s disease?
Scientists have always known that there is a unique link between music and Alzheimer’s disease, a retaining wall where a strange chord has been found: progressive brain degeneration does not affect structures associated with long-term musical memory. Now, only relatively recently, thanks to the new neuroimaging techniques, something interesting and revealing has been observed.
A study carried out at the Max Planck Institute of Cognitive and Human Sciences of the Brain in Leipzig managed to locate, for the first time, the areas related to musical memory, discovering, as the researchers themselves hoped, that they were almost intact.
The manager of this work, Dr. Jorn-Henrik Jacobsen, said that until recently the idea was maintained that our musical skills were in the temporal lobes, however, diagnostic tests have shown something else: musical memory is located in the additional motor brain. Alzheimer’s disease and its destructive shadow do not reach this privileged area, to this small magical place of our brain with such impact, the loss of neurons is less and the amyloid protein deposit is not so affected, that is, the function of this area remains active, continues to function.
Another interesting aspect that has been observed is this: as the disease progresses, eroding our cognitive processes, new brain connections appear, it is as if the brain itself is trying to preserve, almost desperately, something of the essence of the person, activating these regions related to music and our emotions.
Is this where our breath breathes, waiting in silence for music to wake us up for a moment, a wonderful fragment of time in which we can become (almost and almost) ourselves?
What we know about the relationship between music and Alzheimer’s disease is that the first is the intermediary in our autobiographical record, there are moments in our life cycle that are related to a song, a melody, a specific context, the people who were part of it and the emotions experienced.
So, when a person with Alzheimer’s disease hears a melody that makes sense to him, related to his person and his past, we get the following:
Now, the most fascinating thing is that it is an emotional connection, an awakening of feelings, a pleasure that, a few seconds ago, remained in lethargy.
At this point and knowing that there is a very positive direct relationship between music and Alzheimer’s disease, it is possible that many of our readers who have a family member with Alzheimer’s disease may want to enjoy a moment of connection with it. it’s all about seeing a smile appear in your eyes.
Therefore, check these points that must be met to make this person in the best way:
Finally, don’t forget to pay attention to your reaction. Some songs may not like you and others invite you to react in a more positive way, in any case the most important thing is that we are present, that we feel them as part of us and that, for a moment, we can embrace each other. them feeling how their essence arises, their authentic being?