Music for the brain movie#

In both studies, healthy elderly people scored better on tests of memory and reasoning after they had completed several weekly classes in which they did moderate physical exercise to musical accompaniment. Two recent studies-one in the United States and the other in Japan-found that music doesn't just help us retrieve stored memories, it also helps us lay down new ones. Listening to and performing music reactivates areas of the brain associated with memory, reasoning, speech, emotion, and reward.

Music for the brain movie#

There is a growing body of evidence to explain why people in the movie come back to life and begin to feel like there former selves when they listen to their playlists. The music seems to open doors to the residents' memory vaults. Some people, who had seemed unable to speak, proceed to sing and dance to the music, and others are able to recount when and where they had listened to that music. The music, which ranges from jazz to rock to classical, elicits surprising reactions. He then creates an individualized playlist on an MP3 player for the resident.

He asks a resident's family to list the songs or instrumental pieces the person once enjoyed. The film maker was so moved and impressed that he followed Cohen for months and created this film.Д¬ohen's method is fairly simple. It follows Dan Cohen, a social worker who is bringing music to people with dementia in nursing homes.Д¬ohen asked a documentary film maker to follow him around for three days to witness the astounding effect that music was having on the behavior, mood, and quality of life of patients who appeared to no longer have much of a connection to themselves and the world. You may have seen the award-winning documentary film Alive Inside, which was released in 2014. Anne Fabiny, Editor in Chief, Harvard Women's Health Watch Dan Cohen watches Mary Lou Thompson, who hasВ Alzheimer's, respond to the playlist he made for her.Д«y Dr.