Can Music Be a Cure for Alzheimer's?

Dr. Rudolph Tanzi, a professor of neurology at Harvard University and one of the leading researchers in Alzheimer's disease, who also plays the piano, is seeking an answer to this question. Five years ago, while Dr. Tanzi was recording a music piece and simultaneously searching for a way to treat Alzheimer's patients, he noticed something important. Dr. Tanzi says, "I send CDs of my music works to my friends and acquaintances. Among these people are some with advanced Alzheimer's. Gradually, I received interesting feedback from these individuals. Some of them told me that every time they play this music for someone with Alzheimer's, they start tapping their feet. This was when I seriously began studying the effect of music on the brain." According to Dr. Tanzi, music that individuals become familiar with between the ages of 12 and 25 usually stays with them for life. Many significant life events that happen for the first time occur during this period: first kiss, first love, first job, going to university, etc. During these years, individuals create memories that they will remember for the rest of their lives. The music they listen to during these years will also remain part of these memories. Dr. Tanzi states, "Anything you have an emotional attachment to will affect your brain. Music can activate the brain. In a nursing home or Alzheimer's care center, you see that suddenly an advanced Alzheimer's patient starts playing piano notes and singing. A patient who may not have spoken a word for weeks." Dr. Tanzi believes that Alzheimer's separates musical memories from other memories in the brain. "Alzheimer's does not touch musical memories in the brain." He believes that the best way to activate musical memories in the brain is to play them for Alzheimer's patients. Based on this new knowledge, Dr. Tanzi's team designed a music application called Spark Memory Radio. Like most internet radios that play music, this application also follows a specific algorithm. This application prepares a music list for patients based on their birth year and several other questions, which may have had the most impact on their brains during their developmental years. However, unlike other radios that introduce new songs based on individuals' tastes, this application seeks to find the music that these individuals loved in their childhood or adolescence. Dr. Tanzi believes that for patients in the early stages of Alzheimer's who may be very depressed, listening to this music is calming and uplifting. This application was tested for a year in families of Alzheimer's patients before its public release, and its positive results seem very encouraging. Now this application is available for purchase for patients and their families for about ten dollars a month.