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A Key for Unlocking Memories Music Therapy Opens a Path to the Past for Alzheimer's Patients; Creating a Personal Playlist One of the raps on iPods is that users tend to close themselves off from other people and retreat into their own private world.   Music Triggering Memories in Dementia Patients 5:19 With the help of some old familiar tunes, advanced-dementia patients at Beth Abraham Family of Health Services in New York are reconnecting with their memories and with each other in ways that may seem surprising for those with degenerative brain diseases. But with stroke and dementia patients, iPods and other MP3 players are having just the opposite effect. Listening to rap and reggae on a borrowed iPod every day has helped Everett Dixon, a 28-year-old stroke victim at Beth Abraham Health Services in Bronx, N.Y., learn to walk and use his hands again. Trevor Gibbons, 52, who fell out of a fourth-floor construction site and suffered a crushed larynx, has become so entranced with m...

Regularly playing a musical instrument changes the anatomy and function of the  brain and may be used in therapy to improve cognitive skills. There is growing evidence that musicians have structurally and functionally different brains compared with non-musicians. In particular, the areas of the brain used to process music are larger or more active in musicians. Even just starting to learn a musical instrument can changes the neurophysiology of the brain. Lutz J-ncke, a member of Faculty of 1000 Medicine, proposes using music in neuropsychological therapy, for example to improve language skills, memory, or mood. In a review for Faculty of 1000 Biology Reports, an online publication in which leading researchers highlight advances in their field, J-ncke summarizes recent studies of professional musicians. The brain regions involved in music processing are also required for other tasks, such as memory or language skills. "If music has such a strong influence on brain plasticity,...

Music may harm your studying, study says If you're studying for a test, putting on background music that you like may seem like a good idea. But if you're trying to memorize a list in order - facts, numbers, elements of the periodic table - the music may actually be working against you, a new study suggests. Researchers at the University of Wales Institute in Cardiff, United Kingdom, looked at the ability to recall information in the presence of different sounds. They instructed 25 participants between ages 18 and 30 try to memorize, and later recall, a list of letters in order. The study authors are Nick Perham and Joanne Vizard, and the study will appear in the September 2010 issue of Applied Clinical Psychology. Participants were tested under various listening conditions: quiet, music that they'd said they liked, music that they'd said they didn't like, a voice repeating the number three, and a voice reciting random single-digit numbers. The study found that part...

HOW MUSIC HELPED GABRIELLE GIFFORDS HEAL Music-based therapy helped the congresswoman relearn how to walk and talk. Among the devastating consequences of her brain injury from a gunshot wound 10 months ago, Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords lost the ability to talk. But with help from music-based therapy, according to an ABC News segment that aired this week, Giffords has rediscovered her voice and, it seems, her spirit. The footage, which shows Giffords crying in frustration when she tries unsuccessfully to talk but looking joyful as she sings fluently, paints a dramatic picture of the power of music to help people overcome brain injuries. Giffords' story also highlights both the potential and the limitations of a fairly new field of medicine. Music brings so much pleasure to our everyday lives, and it would make sense if music also worked as a healing tool. But scientists are still awaiting solid data to prove what seems to work in case study after case study. "It use...

How Music Affects the Brain and How You Can Use It to Your Advantage [Music] : Music can often make or break a day. It can change your mood, amp you up for exercise, and help you recover from injury. But how does it work exactly, and how can you use it to your advantage? More » How Music Affects the Brain and How You Can Use It to Your Advantage Music can often make or break a day. It can change your mood, amp you up for exercise, and help you recover from injury. But how does it work exactly, and how can you use it to your advantage? Photo by JT Theriot . Recently, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords used music therapy to help her learn to talk again . The still unproven theory revolves around the idea that music is represented in multiple parts of the brain and therefore accesses deeper pathways between neurons. Music then helps patients connect the stored knowledge of words through songs and helps create the new connections need...