Music Intervention Approaches for Alzheimer’s Disease: A Review of the Literature

Abstract Music interventions have been widely adopted as a potential non-pharmacological therapy for patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) to treat cognitive and/or behavioral symptoms of the disease. In spite of the prevalence of such therapies, evidence for their effectiveness report mixed results in the literature. The purpose of this narrative review is to investigate the effectiveness of various intervention strategies …

An Individualized Music-Based Intervention for Acute Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Hospitalized Older Adults With Cognitive Impairment: A Prospective, Controlled, Nonrandomized Trial

Abstract Background: Neuropsychiatric symptoms are common features of dementia, and these occur in three fourths of patients on psychogeriatric inpatient units. These symptoms have traditionally been treated with pharmacological agents, but many medications are as likely to harm patients with dementia as to help them. As a result, nonpharmacological interventions are increasingly being investigated as ways to reduce these symptoms. Objective: The current …

Influence of Music Therapy and Music-Based Interventions on Dementia: A Pilot Study

Introduction Dementia and Therapeutic Treatments Dementia, depending on its characteristics, negatively affects different cognitive domains—“memory, thinking, orientation, understanding, calculation, ability to learn, language, and judgment” (World Health Organization [WHO], 2020a). Approximately, 50 million people worldwide currently suffer from dementia, caused by Alzheimer’s disease or related diseases. In addition, the content and the intervention effort of the respective therapy methods vary …

Music and Health: What You Need To Know

Can music be good for you? Yes, according to a growing body of research. Listening to or making music affects the brain in ways that may help promote health and manage disease symptoms. Performing or listening to music activates a variety of structures in the brain that are involved in thinking, sensation, movement, and emotion. These brain effects may have …

Art and Music

Music and art can enrich the lives of people with Alzheimer’s disease. Both allow for self-expression and engagement, even after dementia has progressed. Music Art Music Music can be powerful. Studies have shown music may reduce agitation and improve behavioral issues that are common in the middle-stages of the disease. Even in the late-stages of Alzheimer’s, a person may be able …