Music: The Best Medicine for the Brain

Alzheimer’s Disease is an irreversible and progressive brain disorder that destroys both memory and thinking abilities. Eventually, the person cannot even do the most basic tasks of self-care. It affects individuals of all socioeconomic groups, educational levels, ethnicities, and even afflicts a wide range of ages, not just the elderly. When it occurs, not only does it affect the person with the disease, but it also affects their family when they see their loved one going through the difficult process. Scientists have been studying this difficult disease for decades, but only recently have they discovered a new approach that has no negative side effects: music.

People afflicted with Alzheimer’s suffer one of the greatest losses in what should be a time of sweet reflection as we age: the loss of memories of people and happier times. The burning question for patients and their families is whether there is a way to bring back those memories to make them  happier. The answer is yes. Recent studies have shown that after listening to certain music, people with Alzheimer’s can  temporarily regain their sense of belonging to the events, family and friends that were previously familiar in their earlier life, but now lost in a fog. Generally, the type of music that is most effective to  listen to is specific classical pieces or music they enjoyed in their youth. A solution to this problem is to raise awareness of the effects of Music Therapy. It should be a basic part of treatment  that all assisted living facilities are able to provide it for their patient. If we are able to get everyone to get music therapy accessible to all people with Alzheimer’s, then they will be more able to remember memories, and thus making them happier.

There are about five million people in the U.S. with Alzheimer’s. It is generally caused by differing environments, lifestyles, and changing genetics, that wear down the brain. Though people of all ages get the disease, the average age of onset in in the 60’s. This is because the immune system is not as strong and in their prime years causing the disease to affect them more easily. Symptoms were first identified in the 1860’s but the disease was not discovered until 1906 (Alz) by Dr. Alois Alzheimer, when he saw changes in a woman’s brain tissue. (Alz) After she died, he studied her brain and discovered the pattern that became identified by the disease. He discovered that when a brain is affected by Alzheimer’s, there are many abnormal clumps called are now called amyloid plaques, and tangled bundles of fibers that are now called neurofibrillary. (Alz)

The brain is what allows us to see, hear, think, move, and make decisions by using chemical and electrical processes using neurons. (Alz) That is the reason why when Alzheimer’s Disease gets in the way of neurons trying to communicate with one another, it makes it difficult to do basic functioning  we are normally able to do easily. (Alz) In early stages, people may start to forget small things like their age, people’s names, and where they live. They can have mood swings and become upset from small things.  In serious cases, Alzheimer’s can cause people to lose memories, their ability to talk is usually impaired, they can become confused about their surroundings, and sometimes are not able to control muscles.  Not only this decaying of the brain is hard on the person, but often even moreso  on their loved ones. When former President Ronald Reagan was stricken with Alzheimer’s, the condition was brought into the public consciousness, and was said to be “the longest goodbye”. Because of this, it is important to make this process easier for the person and their family.

Currently there is no cure for Alzheimer’s. There are only drugs that are able to help people with Alzheimer’s become more aware of their surroundings like Cholinesterase inhibitors, which boosts levels of cell-to-cell communication by providing a neurotransmitter that is depleted in the brain by the disease. Memantine or Namenda slows the progression of symptoms of Alzheimer’s in the brain. It can be used in both moderate and severe cases of Alzheimer’s. The medication  is expensive, and it can be uncomfortable for people to swallow.

With music therapy, not only is the music pleasant, but it can temporarily bring back memories, and over time can re-structure the brain. (LiveScience) When people think and feel, they are using  the left side of the brain. The left side is also where the Alzheimer’s disease affects the most. While the left side is deeply affected, the right side is still relatively intact. People sense rhythm on  the right side of the brain, so when people listen to music, there is more brain activity seen.  Medication comes with multiple side effects, but music is completely free of side effects, so it is healthier and more accessible. It allows people to interact with each other whether it is playing an instrument or just clapping hands. Music also lightens one’s mood. Though people know of music therapy, it is not widely accepted and not put into enough use. Some people may not have the insight  to provide music for their loved ones. A solution to this is to make this effective tool more commonly known and understood.

Music therapy not only makes the average person feel upbeat and happy, but more importantly it is able to better the lives of people struggling with Alzheimer’s. By supporting those with Alzheimer’s, it brings both the families and the community together. Not only does it supports the people with Alzheimer’s, but it also shows their family that people are supporting them, and giving them a few more connected moments with their loved one or friend. Even if everyone contributed a few dollars, all of it would add up and make a difference. Today, about 5 million people have Alzheimer’s Disease. If every one of those individuals is able to get this therapy, the quality of lives for millions of Americans will be better. It is our ultimate responsibility as a society to care for those who have no voice.

Works Cited

"About Alzheimer's Disease: Alzheimer's Basics." National Institute on Aging. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 22 May 2014. Web. 27 May 2017. <https://www.nia.nih.gov/alzheimers/topics/alzheimers-basics>.

"About Alzheimer's Disease: Alzheimer's Basics." National Institute on Aging. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 22 May 2014. Web. 27 May 2017. <https://www.nia.nih.gov/alzheimers/topics/alzheimers-basics>.

AFA. "Education and Care." Alzheimer’s Disease and Music Therapy. AFA, n.d. Web. 27 May 2017. <https://www.alzfdn.org/EducationandCare/musictherapy.html>.

"Alzheimer Basics: Plaques and Tangles." Alzheimer's Association. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 May 2017. <http://www.alz.org/norcal/in_my_community_20545.asp>.

"Alzheimer's & Brain Research Milestones | Research Center." Alzheimer's Association. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 May 2017. <http://www.alz.org/research/science/major_milestones_in_alzheimers.asp>.

Elena Bmk Follow. "Psychopathology Virtual Project." LinkedIn SlideShare. N.p., 21 Oct. 2015. Web. 27 May 2017. <https://www.slideshare.net/ElenaBmk/psychopathology-virtual-project?qid=502e1130-e6ca-471b-b132-b401cd7faf57&v=&b=&from_search=21>.

"Home." Music and Memory. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 May 2017. <https://musicandmemory.org/>.

"Music_Therapy_Science.pdf." Google Drive. Google, n.d. Web. 27 May 2017. <https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B22nV5XOIbSZd0FsRXRsdDB0bUE/view>.

Wolchover, Natalie. "How Music 'Awakens' Alzheimer's Patients." LiveScience. Purch, 18 Apr. 2012. Web. 27 May 2017. <http://www.livescience.com/19765-music-alzheimers-patients-memory.html>.

Music to Better Life Quality

More than 5 million people have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, so why isn't there a solution to make their life quality better? Music therapy has been proven to bring back memories for people with Alzheimer's. As they listen to the music, the music brings back lost memories making the person happier. People are aware of music therapy, but not aware of what it can do for their loved ones. To fix this, all people in all assisted living facilities should be given music to listen once or twice a day.

Civil Rights Timeline

1946 - Governor Earl Warren stops segregated schools in California

1955 - Rosa Parks doesn't give up her bus seat to a white man and gets arrested

1955 - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is elected to be the leader of the boycott

1955 - Montgomery Bus Boycott starts

1957 - The Civil Rights Act is passed by Congress

1959 - 4 men sit all day at a whites-only lunch counter. Though people refused to serve them, they still stayed until the store closed. This started the Greensboro sit-ins and similar protests.

1962 - Meredith becomes the first African-American student at the University of Mississippi

1963 - President Kennedy delivers speech from the Oval Office discussing civil rights

1963 - President Kennedy is assassinated

1963 - Martin Luther King leads march to Pettus Bridge

1963 - Martin Luther King makes the I Have a Dream speech

1968 - Martin Luther Kings is Assassinated from his balcony

A Transformational Book

I think that the book To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the most transformational books I've read because as you read you see a lot of characters go through a transformation. For example, Jem transforms a lot. In the beginning of the book, Jem is always wanting to read magazines or wanting to play games and goof around. Throughout the book, Jem matures as he learns more about his town. He learns about the racism in his town from when Tom Robinson is unfairly thrown into jail because he is black. In the last bit of the book, you see that Jem decides he wants to become a gentleman and he stops playing around, reading magazines, and he becomes more serious.

The New Deal: Then and Now

When the New Deal was first formed, banking and finances were important. They were important because people were now able to keep their money in banks. Being able to keep their money in banks meant that they didn't have to carry their money around which made it less likely to get stolen. Today, we are still able to keep our money safer. Now we even have credit cards, which makes it easier to keep track of transactions.  

Another part of the New Deal was the Federal Emergency Relief Act (FERA). They were designed to help the 13 million Americans who were unemployed. People who weren't able to feed themselves were helped by the FERA. Today, we have programs designed to do the same thing. Today, we have different insurances like health insurance or roadside insurance. There are also other programs that help people who don't make enough to feed themselves, like the Food Bank.

Until the New Deal, there were also not enough jobs. The WPA created more than 8 million jobs. They created jobs like road and building constructors, or painting murals. Creating these jobs preserved  the people's their self-respect, their self-reliance, and courage and determination.” Today, jobs are still a struggle. Some people are still not able to find jobs to support themselves. 

Agriculture was still an important part of the economy. 1 in 5 Americans were farmers. The New Deal was able to raise the prices back up enough for the farmers to make enough money to provide for themselves. Today, most farmers are still able to provide from themselves while the produce is still somewhat affordable.

 

Moral Choices for the Future

All my life I have been learning from different experiences, but this one stood out. This year my 8th-grade class went to the LA Museum of Tolerance. We were taught by a man named Walter. He warned us of the things we would see, hear, and feel. Before we started, each person got a card with the name of a child who had either lived or died in the Holocaust. At the end of the day, we would find out whether they lived or died. As I was reading about the little girl on my card, my eyes immediately went to her birthday, January 27 which is just four days apart from mine and was just around seven years old when she was interned. He taught us about the Holocaust and the terrible things that humans can do to each other. As we walked through the museum the thing that stood out to me the most was when we walked through the simulated gates into the gas chamber. As we stood outside the gates, I started to get scared even though they weren't real. I wondered how people could even think of locking up another person just for their religion. Walter, our guide, taught us about our responsibility as the future generation, he told the reason we were there learning about our history. The reason we were there was to learn from past human mistakes and make a different choice in the future.  He wanted to make sure that nothing as terrible as the Holocaust happened again. By going to the Museum of Tolerance, not only did I learn more about the world’s history, but I learned more about moral choices. At the end of the tour, I was heartbroken to find out that the little girl I had on my card had died from starvation in Auschwitz.

“Let us not forget, after all, that there is always a moment when the moral choice is made. Often because of one story or one book or one person, we are able to make a different choice, a choice for humanity, for life.”  - Elie Wiesel. I don’t want another holocaust to happen. Never again do I want a little child to be locked up and forced to have a slow death for something they can’t control. Going to the Museum was what taught me more about moral choices. I will forever remember seeing the propaganda photos showing the Jews as rats, the gas chamber simulation, and the pictures of the dead bodies piled on top of each after being gassed to death. The moral choices in made in the past were not good, so for the future, I want to make moral choices that will help the people in the world not hurt them.

The Museum of Tolerance

Our tour guild, Walter, was around 70 years old. At first, he seemed like another old man volunteering just to fill the time, but the moment he started talking I knew I was wrong. The way he talked showed us how serious he was. He warned of the of the things we would experience, see, feel, he told us that each time he taught the subject, he felt like part of his heart was getting ripped out. 

Before we really started, each person got a card with the name of a child who had either lived or died in the holocaust. He told us that at the end of the day we would find out whether they lived or died. As I was reading about the little girl on my card, the first thing I noticed was her birthday, January 27 just four days apart from mine. The little girl was around 7 years old when the holocaust happened. In the museum, the thing that stood out to me the most was when we walked through the simulated gates into the gas chamber. As we stood outside the gates, I could feel my heart start to beat faster. Even though they weren't real, just seeing the barbed wire, the tunnels separating the weak from the strong, made me feel scared. On the other side of the tunnels was a simulated gas chamber. In there, we watched a video talking about the things that had happened to the men and woman, girls, and boys, young and old. We saw pictures of the piles of bodies, and men climbing on top of each other to try to escape. We were told of our responsibility as the future responsibility. In the end of the tour I found out that the girl on my card had not survived and had died from starvation in Auschwitz.

As the future generation, our responsibility is to learn from the mistakes in history, to make the future better. We have heard the story of the one of the last holocaust surviver. That makes us a witness. As Walter told us, being told the story of the Holocaust makes us a witness. The future generations need to make sure no one in the world is discriminated against. No one should be discriminated because of their gender, color, religion, or anything similar. That is the my responsibility as a witness and as part of the future generation.