New Study of Music and Dementia Shows Positive Correlations

Music is inextricable from the human experience — humans have not only been creating music for millennia, we’ve been fascinated with why we make it (and respond to it) for centuries. Countless studies have explored the physiological, emotional, and cognitive effects of music on the human brain, with entire branches of study dedicated to music therapy. Perhaps this is why a recent study by Geriatrics & Gerontology International has shown some not-so-surprising results: Music can have a positive impact on individuals living with dementia.

Credit: Gavin Whitner via MusicOomph.com

The Most Recent Study on Music and Dementia

Dementia affects nearly 50 million individuals and their families across the world. Because of this, the need for affordable and useful intervention tools that can improve their daily experiences and overall quality life is of utmost importance.

This particular study from November 2018, included 51 individuals with dementia who attended five different adult day health centers. The goal was to study the effects of personalized music-listening on each individual’s “mood, agitation, and social engagement.” Each participant was provided personalized music to listen to on headphones for 20 minutes, after which they were brought back into their day center’s usual activities where they were observed for an additional 20 minutes.

The researchers found that the use of music intervention showed a positive impact on mood and engagement, as well as a decrease in agitation. What does this look like behaviorally speaking? In this study, it included significant increases of joy, more eye contact and eye movement, increased social engagement, more talkativeness, and less sleeping.

These positive and promising results have propelled the study’s researchers to develop an online training with music intervention for direct care workers in long-term care communities, which is planned to be “implemented in over 100 Virginia nursing facilities over the next three years,” said Dr. Emily Ihara of George Mason University.

The results of this study can’t help but make me think of a quote by Hans Christian Andersen: “Where words fail, music speaks.” And in individuals living with dementia, it appears to speak volumes.