As Memory Slips Away, Music Lingers

The Alzheimer’s patient had forgotten nearly everything, including his own name, but the sound of Frank Sinatra moved him to grab his wife and dance. The phenomenon demonstrates how deep-seated music is in the human brain, Sara Davidson writes for the New York Times’ New Old Age blog. “If someone sang to you as a baby, before you even knew words, you’ll respond to music after words are gone.”

Music therapists ply their trade in all sorts of facilities; it’s an important tool because the brain processes music broadly rather than in a single area. “You can’t rub out music unless the brain is completely gone,” says a professor. Music therapy can even slow the progress of Alzheimer’s. “It works faster to relax people than any drug,” says a student who happens to be Davidson’s daughter. “It’s cost-effective and has no side effects.”