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The Memory of Music

Living with Dementia Through Music

Through the Great American Songbook with some of the most popular songs from the twenties to fifties, including old time classics such as “All of Me”, “Over the Rainbow” and “La Vie en Rose,” Irwin Rosenstein remembers who he is. As said by his wife, Carol: “When Irwin had his medication dose decreased and when he was sitting at the piano playing privately, he would resurrect. Just like a dry flower asking for water.”

More than ten years have passed since Irwin Rosenstein was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and early dementia. While the medication is helping with the tremors, music helps him with symptoms that medicine cannot relieve: his feelings and emotions. As said by the gerontologist, Dr. Bill Thomas in the documentary “Alive Inside”: “We have medicines that can adjust the dials. We haven’t done anything, medically speaking, to touch the heart and soul of a patient.”

According to the Alzheimer’s Society, dementia is a term used to describe many different conditions affecting the brain. Some of the symptoms associated with dementia include memory loss, difficulty with writing, thinking and talking, and often accompanied with changes in mood, perception or behavior. “Many things can cause dementia. You can have strokes that cause dementia, Alzheimer's disease causes dementia, Parkinson's can cause it but not necessarily,” according to Jeff Bronstein, professor of neurology and director of the Movement Disorder Program at UCLA.

The problem we are facing as a society is time. According to a report by World Health Organization (WHO) nearly 10 million new cases of dementia appear every year, and this number will grow to nearly 75 million by 2030. By 2050, this number nearly triples to 132 million.

The frustration of losing your sense of self is how dementia works. Dr. Ray Tischer, former organizer of Santa Barbara’s band for Music Mends Minds, mentioned that “pharmaceuticals are great to stabilize somebody's brain chemistry, but how do you get them to deal with really daily issue. A feeling like you're still a human being, and you have your own identity. You have your own heart, and you have your own claim to being who you are.”

Every part that makes you who you are is controlled by the brain – the most complex organ in the human body and the least understood. The brain contains billions of nerve cells, nerve fibers and hundreds of nerve vessels which work together to control your emotions, behavior, movement, and sensations. Dementia occurs when brain cells are damaged and interfere with their capacity to communicate with each other.

While it is fair to say that loss of memory is one of the first symptoms reported of Alzheimer’s disease, research suggests that music can help to enhance brain functions and improve the quality of life of people.

J.-H. Jacobsen et al. (2014) points out in their research, that it is unclear under what kind of circumstances musical memory is preserved in patients that suffer from a particular type of brain damage.

“The truth is, we don't know why it seems to be so helpful but I think it's very well- accepted from programs like Music Mends Minds that it really does have such a positive influence on people's lives,” said Dr. Jeff Bronstein.

Researchers and non-profit organizations that work with music and dementia patients, such as “Music Mend Minds,” open conversations about the benefits of musical stimuli. Music has been shown to improve the quality of life for many people who have dementia.

Carol Rosenstein, the founder of Music Mends Minds, decide to start this project after noticing the positive effects that music had on her husband every time he played the piano. She founded it four years ago in Los Angeles, California, and has expanded all over the world, including Canada and the Philippines. “We’re now so proud to have 11 active bands and about nine on the drawing board at this time,” Rosenstein said.

It is important to acknowledge the dangers of dementia. According to the National Institute on Aging, Dementia, one of the most common symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, is not only a mental condition that can come with aging, it is a terminal disease caused by a variety of brain illnesses that affect memory, thinking, behavior and the ability to perform everyday activities.

During the creation of the documentary The Memory of Music, I learned about the stigma that surrounds different neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. And by talking to various members and organizers, I become aware of how people are not only suffering from a disease that is affecting their health and emotional state, but I also learn about the alienation that could come with it.

Music Mends Minds Founder, Carol Rosenstein, says programs like the one she formed helps people to overcome the fear of the stigma and makes it easier for patients to integrate into the society. Also, she says music can give people suffering from a neurodegenerative disease a sense of freedom but most important, it helps them to recognize they can do something normal and to find a way to express themselves.