Music Neuroscience and Alzheimer’s
March 04, 2024
How do you utilize neuroscience in relation to alzheimer’s and music? Join us as sound designer and neuroscience graduate Raffi Hayrapet helps us in answering some of those questions!
Introduction
Ever wondered why Alzheimer’s patients respond so positively when listening to their favourite song? Once they put on headphones and hear a nostalgic tune, they suddenly start moving again, their eyes light up, and sometimes even sing along. Music neuroscience offers insights into this phenomenon.
Music is a neurological phenomenon, or as Dr Andrew Huberman puts it, “music is your brain”. This is because music activates nearly every part of our brain, using what are aptly called neural-ensembles. So it is no surprise then that music is often used as a therapeutic tool to treat patients suffering from a range of neuro-degenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s.
“Patients recalling episodic memories while listening to familiar tunes have been shown to retrieve memories more vividly, with increased emotional richness”
Music and memory
The prefrontal cortex, larger in humans than in other animals, is central to decision-making, planning, and, significantly, memory recall—a defining feature of being human. Intriguingly, neuroimaging studies reveal that listening to music can enhance memory performance by influencing prefrontal cortex activity.
In one “free recall study”, participants were tasked with remembering items from a previously presented list of words. Those who were presented the words while listening to music demonstrated a higher recall compared to the silent-condition. Notably, prefrontal cortex activity decreases in the presence of music, indicating that music engages additional neural pathways beyond the PFC.
In relation to Alzheimer’s, patients recalling episodic memories (memories about personal events) while listening to familiar tunes have been shown to retrieve memories more vividly, with increased emotional richness, and at a faster rate than in a silent condition.
Music’s ability to activate diverse brain regions, such as those linked with emotions, enhances memory retrieval by forming a more accessible and robust neural network.
“Journal of Music Therapy revealed a 24% increase in social behaviour among Alzheimer’s patients exposed to music”
Music and emotions
Music in some ways overwhelms what language can do, because music can express emotions with nuance and in varying degrees. It evolved prior to spoken language or dance, and is the fundamental form of human communication. Moreover, music listening activates the amygdala, which is a brain area responsible for detecting and comprehending emotions in people’s speech and facial expressions. This means that music can be used as a tool to help navigate social situations more smoothly.
Alzheimer’s patients face challenges in speech prosody, which refers to how we use rhythm, intonation and stress to verbally express ourselves during speech. Music therapy has proven to be a viable therapeutic tool for improving this, and fostering improved social communication. For example, a study in the Journal of Music Therapy revealed a 24% increase in social behaviour among Alzheimer’s patients exposed to music therapy, as evidenced by enhanced participation, smiling, eye contact, and positive verbal feedback.
“Brands are leveraging music’s emotional resonance and nostalgic impact to craft compelling advertisements”
Harnessing the power of music
Music’s power is harnessed beyond clinical settings too. For example, brands are leveraging music’s emotional resonance and nostalgic impact to craft compelling advertisements. This in turn improves brand recall, recognition, loyalty and trust among consumers.
The neurological nature of music has even led some agencies to use neuroscience techniques to gauge the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns. It is called neuro-forecasting, and is based on the premise that similar neural patterns across participants are a key indicator of a campaign’s success.
In conclusion, the profound impact of music on the brain, evident through its positive effects on Alzheimer’s patients and the general population, is non-invasive and influential. By triggering memories and enhancing emotional well-being, music’s neurological benefits extend to various aspects of our lives.
Thanks to Raffi Hayrapet for writing this blog post. You can read more about him here.