Music is soothing. There is a growing body of evidence that music can arouse distant memories in persons suffering from Alzheimer's disease...
Alzheimer's Reading Room
Alzheimer's patients do react positively to music.
I forgot to mention last night, while I was rolling Dotty to the toilet for her first poop in four days, I was singing the Poop song. I had not sung the poop song to her in a very long time. Is this why she pooped? Maybe it helped.
We have other articles on music. Here are a few samples:
- Music Boosts Memory in Alzheimer’s, Is this Why the Poop Song Works
- Does Music Unlock Memory in Alzheimer's Sufferers
- Seniors Bring Song, Hope To Alzheimer Patients
Recently, I read an article about the neuroscience of music. Some of you might find this of interest.
When listening to our favorite songs, our body betrays all the symptoms of emotional arousal. The pupils in our eyes dilate, our pulse and blood pressure rise, the electrical conductance of our skin is lowered, and the cerebellum, a brain region associated with bodily movement, becomes strangely active. Blood is even re-directed to the muscles in our legs. (Some speculate that this is why we begin tapping our feet.) In other words, sound stirs us at our biological roots.
Because the scientists were combining methodologies (PET and fMRI) they were able to obtain an impressively precise portrait of music in the brain. The first thing they discovered (using ligand-based PET) is that music triggers the release of dopamine in both the dorsal and ventral striatum. This isn’t particularly surprising: these regions have long been associated with the response to pleasurable stimuli.
If you would like to read an interesting article about this research go here --The Neuroscience of Music
I you would like to read more about the science go here -- Anatomically distinct dopamine release during anticipation and experience of peak emotion to music
Original content Bob DeMarco, the Alzheimer's Reading Room