Music and Memory: Alive Inside

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https://www.amazon.com/Alive-Inside-Dan-Cohen/dp/B00OPCF3EW
When my grandmother was first diagnosed with dementia, my mother began researching the topic as a coping method but also because she wanted to be prepared for what was to come. She came upon a documentary called “Alive Inside: A Story of Music and Memory” which tells the story of the nonprofit organization Music and Memory providing music therapy for dementia patients. The documentary tells the stories of several patients and how the music therapy helped patients who had become catatonic be brought to life by the music of their past.

We soon tested out this effect of music on dementia with my grandmother and found the connection between music and memory to be incredibly significant. As soon as the song “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree” by Dawn featuring Tony Orlando came on, it was like someone had opened a window and my grandmother took her first breath of fresh air in months. She instantly began humming and tapping her foot to the melody, something we had not seen in over a year. To see her again in such an alive and awake form again incredible to see.

There are so many times when certain songs can trigger memories I never knew I had. When a song comes on at a party in Norton, I am somehow still thinking of driving around in Turner, ME with the windows down, fresh, country air with a hint of sweet hay sweeping past my hair and sun hitting my skin through the sunroof. Music is able to bring us back to places when we first heard a song or just pleasant memories we have that connect to a song. I am sure that my grandmother felt this same experience of being brought back by music and it comforts me to know that she is still alive inside.


Here is the trailer to the documentary “Alive Inside: A Story of Music and Memory”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaB5Egej0TQ

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