News

Music therapy device helps Alzheimer's patients

December 04, 2018 - 10:05 AM By: Marissa Oberle BERRIEN SPRINGS, Mich. -- A Michiana man is hoping his new invention can help keep patients connect to their past and their loved ones. Zach Gordon, a nurse in Berrien Springs, created a music therapy device that clips to the clothes of Alzheimer's and Dementia patients. There's only 35 in use right now, but the families of the patients using them want to see more, saying the device dramatically improves the lives of their loved ones. "He hears Peter, Paul, and Mary, Simon and Garfunkle, and The Eagles," said Claudia Mierau. "Every seven minutes, my voices comes on, and I say, ‘Hi Wayne. It’s Claudia I love you.'” "Not only did she have......

“Music And Memory” Brings Music Therapy To Nursing Home Residents

November 29, 2018 - 10:05 AM By: Dr. Joe Misiewicz— Muncie, IN—A group of Ball State University student volunteers are helping forgotten Hoosiers living in nursing homes by providing them free iPods® and personalized music therapy. The program is called “Music and Memory” and their mission is to bring iPods® and individualized music playlists to the elderly, with special emphasis on those suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s. We believe that personalized digital music can greatly enhance the quality of life for many nursing home residents, especially those with cognitive disorders. We are also deeply committed to bringing love, mercy, and compassion to Hoosier......

Music Therapy for Dementia Patients

November 27, 2018 - 10:05 AM Studies have shown that music can increase brain connectivity in patients with dementia. But what does this mean? According to the Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease, research demonstrates how “…personalized music playlists can activate regions of the brain typically not touched by early Alzheimer’s disease and may offer a new way to approach anxiety, depression, and agitation in patients.” Jeff Anderson, MD, one of the authors of the study and an associate professor of radiology at the University of Utah Health, says that the research was designed to look at the mechanism of action in the brain, not necessarily to test whether music......

The Magic of Music - And 10 songs for the blues.

November 22, 2018 - 10:05 AM Neel Burton M.D. The oldest musical instruments to have been found — flutes made from bird bone and mammoth ivory — are more than 42,000 years old; and it has been argued that, by fostering social cohesion, music—from the Greek, 'the art of the muses'— could have helped our species outcompete the Neanderthals. Remember that next time you stand to the national anthem. In the Bible, David played on his harp to make King Saul feel better: ‘And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed......

Dementia patients may benefit from music therapy

November 20, 2018 - 10:05 AM (Reuters Health) - Music therapy may improve depression and anxiety in dementia patients, a new analysis suggests. Music therapy might also improve emotional well-being among those with dementia, researchers found. But they didn’t find any benefits when it came to cognition and behavioral issues such as agitation or aggression, according to the report in the Cochrane Library journal. Although the benefits of music therapy weren’t large, “small effects are valuable, too, because even a small improvement or maintaining a certain level while otherwise a decline is expected is very important for people with dementia and those caring for them,” said study leader Jenny......

Healthy Songs: The Amazing Power of Music Therapy

November 15, 2018 - 10:05 AM BY KATHLEEN HOWLAND, BERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC When I was a child, on most Fridays, my dad, mom, brother, and I would travel to Cape Cod to visit my grandparents. For my father, this drive would come after a long day of work, during which he had already commuted from our home, an hour outside of the city, to Boston, where he worked as an accountant, and back home again. He was an intense man, and during these drives to the Cape we were often silent, on edge—unsure of how to interpret his sullen and grave demeanor. After we arrived, my grandmother would typically begin playing a mix of classical music, folk songs, and pop songs on her spinet piano, and I would watch my......

George Winston talks about the healing power of music before concert

November 13, 2018 - 10:05 AM By James D. Watts Jr. Tulsa World George Winston can’t think about music. “For me, a song has to just happen,” Winston said. “I can’t try to think it into existence. Something will appeal to the ear, and I’ll try different things with it until I get it into a shape I like.” Sometimes the process yields a melody that hasn’t the requisite staying power and gets abandoned. Other songs might end up completed, but in a way that their creator never expected. “There’s one song on my last album, ‘Pixie No. 13,’ that took me a year to be able to play,” Winston said. “I had thought it up, but to play......

'There's been research done that shows that music has a very relaxing and calming effect'

November 08, 2018 - 10:05 AM by Stephanie Rothman and KVAL.com Staff LANE COUNTY, Ore. - At PeaceHealth, 'music to your ears' is not just a saying, but a dose of medicine for patients as well. Volunteers come in and play the piano in hopes of giving a bit of joy to those who need it most. If you go to a hospital, you expect doctors and medical staff around. But what you may not expect is the sound of piano music filling the air. To many patients, music is more than background noise, but actually a dose of much needed joy. We joined in on the piano bench with one volunteer who shows how a simple song can bring relief to those who need it most. The calming sounds of the piano act as a therapeutic treatment at......

After surviving stroke, man uses healing powers of music to recover

November 06, 2018 - 10:05 AM By Natalie Newport Music can be soothing for some, but a man in Nebraska says it gave him so much more. Ted Gray suffered a massive stroke not long ago and has been recovering ever since. The 57-year-old’s spinal cord was injured when he fell. When he underwent an operation, his carotid artery burst while on the table. "I was in the hospital on a ventilator for a while," Gray said. "I looked kind of bad. They didn't think I was going to make it." As he recovered in rehab, there was one thing that soothed his soul: music. It didn't take long for hospital staff to get wind of his love of sound, and they went the extra mile to bring the gift of music right to him. They......

Good vibrations: Survivors and families find healing through music therapy

November 01, 2018 - 10:05 AM When Shelley Cory got into a car accident a few years ago, her life dramatically changed. Not only did the accident put her in a coma for two and a half months, it also left her with a traumatic brain injury that impacted her ability to speak. Cory is now a client at Liberty Place, a Whitehall-based nonprofit that serves people with traumatic brain injuries. During Cory’s time at the facility, she surprised caseworkers one day when she told them she wanted to sing. She recalled singing to her sister when she was a child and wanted to recapture something that had once brought her joy. That’s when she struck up a partnership with David Parker, a music therapist at......

News

Music therapy device helps Alzheimer's patients

“Music And Memory” Brings Music Therapy To Nursing Home Residents

Music Therapy for Dementia Patients

The Magic of Music - And 10 songs for the blues.

Dementia patients may benefit from music therapy

Healthy Songs: The Amazing Power of Music Therapy

George Winston talks about the healing power of music before concert

'There's been research done that shows that music has a very relaxing and calming effect'

After surviving stroke, man uses healing powers of music to recover

Good vibrations: Survivors and families find healing through music therapy

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