Music and our memories

Sometimes we lose our memory.

We forget who we are. Close family members that we've known for a good part of our life--husbands, daughters, sons--become strangers.

We forget where we live, where we came from, what we like to do, what foods we enjoy, even how to eat or sleep or bathe.

I know such a person. It's not her fault. She is 80 and has severe dementia. She constantly talks about "going home" even when she's at her own home. Paces restlessly, seems constantly tormented, always searching (but for what?) Her friends and relatives hardly ever come to visit her. Rarely call her. Rarely make contact of any kind. It falls almost entirely on the shoulders of her only daughter to take care of her. Perhaps others don't know how to handle her memory loss and thus feel uncomfortable around her.

But now there's a glimmer of hope for those with Alzheimer's--which today affects about 7 million Americans. If we don't yet have Alzheimer's, we fear it greatly. Dread that we, too, will one day lose our precious memory.

I say it's precious, because what do you have if you've lost your memory?

Here's the hope, the fervent prayer, the miracle if it truly works:

Pipe music into the ears of an Alzheimer's patient. Let them listen to what they once loved to hear or dance to. Some of them will suddenly come alive and jive and remember.

Music can really work its magic on a person suffering from dementia, according to a new documentary--Alive Inside. Dan Cohen, head of the non-profit Music and Memory program which created the film was recently quoted: "Ninety-nine percent of these people (in nursing homes) are still sitting around and doing nothing all day when they could be rocking to their music."

Says a doctor who personally has witnessed how music can transform those with Alzheimer's: "Music has more ability to activate more parts of the brain than any other stimulus." He has seen person and after person--barely alive and seemingly living in a dark, vague world full of strangers--put on headphones, listen to the music of their youth and light up.

While not a proven cure for Alzheimer's and maybe not effective for everyone stricken with the debilitating condition, music might be key to helping restore the memory of many.

If I lose my memory, pipe me in some tunes from the Mamas and Papas, the Beatles, Toby Keith, the Four Tops and Aretha Franklin. Rock me, baby!

Meanwhile,here's an exciting clip about Alive Inside: