Maybe Next Time

So... I didn't get to play "name that tune" on Friday, which, while unfortunate for me, is not really a bad thing in itself: here's why.

Group music therapy is thought to be useful and effective in groups up to as large as twelve or thirteen people. At the daycare center however, this one hour segment of the day is such a hit, that EVERYONE wants to participate, and that is upwards of twenty five people! Because of such high demand, instead of doing one hour-long session with only twelve people, we did two half hour-long sessions so that we could cater to twenty four(ish). As a result, "name that tune" became a very brief exercise as there was not much time after introductions and movement exercises. While I did not get to play, everyone did get to participate.

Also, the intern forgot her viola so she ended up using my violin instead.

While I was disappointed, having two groups made of different people did reveal how the therapists must change their tactics in order to reach their audience. For example, we only did a brief round of "name that tune" in the first group, one peopled by members who were more aware, alert, and in-touch with reality and themselves. "Name that tune" is a great exercise for them, because their recognition of certain songs strengthens their memory, improves their focus, etc. [See my previous post to learn more about how "name that tune" is so beneficial for the participants.] However, we did not play "name that tune" with the second group, one made of participants in a more faded mental state. While they might have enjoyed the music they were hearing, even if they could not show it, they would not have the ability to identify songs, though they might recognize them. In addition, such an exercise requires a large amount of focus and attention, something that would be much more difficult for the second group. Instead, the music therapists prioritized movement and rhythm, and did other, easier focus/attention exercises that were more geared towards the level of the group.

I am bringing my violin again on Wednesday and hope the circumstances are better for my purpose. I will be sure to post about it if they are.

Searching for the Sense of Self in the Dementia-Afflicted Brain

We know music runs through many structures and areas of the brain and is very involved with memory processes. We remember hundreds if not thousands of tunes and melodies, can recall titles, lyrics, and artists, associate certain songs with emotions and events, and remember all this many decades after it is first learned. Clearly however memory works, music might be a great way in which we can come to understand it.

It all starts at the auditory nerve that processes sound and allows us to hear the music in the first place. From there, we are not so sure. The top theories out there say that because music affects emotions, it must be processed in the limbic system, an inner brain pathway that consists of the multiple areas shown below.

While the limbic area controls many aspects of function, it is largely involved with emotion. The amygdala in particular is known to control emotional behavior and motivation. This means it ultimately affects our emotional moods and actions that we do not really control, or autonomic responses, via communication with the thalamus and frontal lobe. Another part of the limbic system, the hippocampus, is involved with memory in regards to factual information, or declarative memory, and might be why certain music is thought to help students memorize vocabulary while studying for an exam.

Memories are deemed more valuable and seem to perpetuate longer when they are emotionally significant. It's easier to recall your happiest, angriest, and saddest moments versus those from emotionally uncharged circumstances. Songs which carry an emotional significance seem to trigger these memories, and this is especially important for those with dementia. When many of their most important and valuable memories seem permanently lost, music allows certain emotions, and the memories associated with them, to reappear. Concetta Tomaino, a renowned music therapist who has truly pioneered the field, wonders if in this way, music can be used to re-access the sense of self in a dementia patient who has essentially forgotten who they are. She even quotes world-renowned neuroscientist Oliver Sacks from his novel "Music and the Brain" which I have also happened read for the purpose of this project, that I feel perfectly sums up this idea that music can rekindle lost memories and even oneself: "[I]t is the inner life of music which can still make contact with their inner lives which can awaken the hidden, seemingly extinguished soul; and evoke a wholly personal response of memory, associations, feelings, images, a return of thought and sensibility, an answering identity."

Citations

Tomaino, C. (2009, May 20). Cognition ~ How Music Can Reach the Silenced Brain. Retrieved March 24, 2017, from http://www.pbs.org/wnet/musicinstinct/blog/cognition/how-music-can-reach-the-silenced-brain/?p=31