Music and Memory
Salvador Dali - The Persistence of Memory
Read an interesting article on the NYTimes.com today, The Songs They Can’t Forget, which talks about how music can reach people with Alzheimer’s disease. From the article:
“Music has the power to bypass the mind and wash through us, triggering strong feelings and cuing the body to synchronize with its rhythm.
Researchers and clinicians are finding that when all other means of communication have shut down, people remember and respond to music. Familiar songs can help people with dementia relate to others, move more easily and experience joy.
Music memory is preserved better than verbal memory, according to Ms. Clair, because music, unlike language, is not seated in a specific area of the brain but processed across many parts.
Patients with a wide range of ailments — from children with disabilities to burn victims to people with Parkinson’s disease and stroke — have experienced the ability of MT to speed healing, improve mood and increase mobility.“
The healing/therapeutic aspect reminds me of the Patch Adams story, but with a musical twist.
