A music therapist seeks to tap into long-lost memories
Music can change emotions in people with dementia, even if they don’t remember hearing it
The upbeat song “Sweet Caroline” often prompts listeners to sing and dance. But when music therapist Alaine Reschke-Hernández played the song for an older person, the song evoked a sad memory and tears. That patient’s surprising reaction highlights how music, and the memories that come with it, can influence emotions, even years later.
Strategically using music can improve well-being, particularly for older people, says Reschke-Hernández, of the University of Kentucky in Lexington. “Music is so connected and integrated with so many different elements of our life,” she says. From joyful celebrations to solemn ceremonies, music is part of meaningful events throughout life and becomes strongly associated with memory.
In her own practice, Reschke-Hernández has seen the benefits of music therapy. But she wanted to see how far those benefits might go. She partnered with neuroscientists to find out if tapping into music-associated memories could positively influence the emotions of people with dementia.
Because memories are so personal, music that evokes happiness in some may not do so in others. For this reason, the researchers asked participants — including 19 healthy older adults and 20 people with Alzheimer’s disease — to choose songs that evoked either sadness or happiness.
After listening to the self-selected music, participants rated how they felt and stated whether they remembered listening to music. Both positive and negative emotions lingered for up to 20 minutes in both healthy adults and in participants with Alzheimer’s disease, whether they remembered listening to music or not, the team reported in November in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.