The Music Instinct: Science & Song

[RainDog]

By Elena Mannes.

The Music Instinct: Science & Song explores ground-breaking science revealing the power of music and its connection with the body, the brain and the world of nature. The film deals with research, showing music can heal as well as its potential for education.

[KT2000]

1. there was a film at Sundance

about a man (social worker) who was upset that Alzheimer's patients would just sit and stare. He loaded iPods with songs he learned the patients liked and had them listen. They became animated, smiling, dancing etc. It won an Audience Award.
It is called "Alive Inside: A Story of Music and Memory."

[antigop]

2. thank you! bookmarked for later....this looks really interesting nt

[antigop]

3. Alzheimer's patients' brains boosted by belting out Sound of Music

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/nov/11/alzheimers-patients-brains-boosted-sound-music-singing

Four-month study finds mental performance of people with dementia improves after singing classic hits from musicals

Belting out classic numbers from hit musicals can boost the brain function of people with Alzheimer's disease, according to researchers who worked with elderly residents at a US care home.

Over a four-month study, the mental performance of patients who took part in regular group singing sessions improved compared with others who just listened.

In the sessions, patients were led through familiar songs from The Sound of Music, Oklahoma, The Wizard of Oz and Pinocchio.

The sessions appeared to have the most striking effect on people with moderate to severe dementia, with patients scoring higher on cognitive and drawing tests, and also on a satisfaction-with-life questionnaire at the end of the study.

Jane Flinn, a neuroscientist at George Mason University in Virginia, said care homes that did not hold group singing sessions should consider them, because they were cheap, entertaining and beneficial for patients with Alzheimer's.