Service Reflection: Music and Memory

Yesterday, I was able to pay a visit to Best Friends.  We had a busy couple of hours and completed a lot of fun activities!  Our time consisted of: 

• Trivia games involving riddles, inventors, and various inventions
• Exercise time! 
• Ice cream cones (this is quickly becoming a weekly tradition I could get used to!) and great conversation 
• Finally, we concluded the day with some great singing and of course some dancing too! 

We sang a plethora of songs with our friends while there.  They enjoy various spiritual hymns (“Amazing Grace” is a favorite!), patriotic tunes (“America, the Beautiful” and the “Star-Spangled Banner” are big hits), and classics like “Love Me Tender” or “My Old Kentucky Home.”  

I thought this quote beautifully encapsulated my thoughts! 

We’ve sung every single time I’ve visited Best Friends, and the more I observe the friends while we sing, the more I realize that they know these songs by heart.  Most of them have trouble seeing the words in the song books we pass out, but they sing anyway.  I experienced this same thing with my great grandmother, who passed away from Alzheimer’s disease a few years ago.  She couldn’t remember who she was or where she was, and she had long stopped recognizing us, her family.  However, she would always be able to recall the words of a familiar tune.  Grandma might not have been able to recall anything about her life, but she could always sing “Amazing Grace.”  

Although we aren't allowed to photograph our friends, I found this picture
 (and the one below and to the right) online
and thought it accurately depicted our afternoons of song and dance!
Found at: http://www.solvangfriendshiphouse.com/donate-now/ 

The friends I have met at Best Friends Day Center are the same way.  They don’t always remember the jobs they’ve had, the names of their children, or even who is coming to pick them up that day, but they always remember the words to their favorite songs.  It amazes me how music can remain a part of someone even when their mental faculties fail them.  It’s truly beautiful to watch them sing and dance to these songs — music

                                                                              brings them such happiness and can

                                                                           provide overwhelming peace to

    Why does the music remain?                              even the most distraught.    

       I have always wondered why music seemed to be the last part of our memory to fade, so I decided to do some research.  I found that a part of the brain called the medial Prefrontal Cortex (mPFC) is one of the very last portions of the brain impacted by Alzheimer’s disease.  Dr. Janata, a psychologist at the University of California-Davis, organized a study that concluded the mPFC portion of the brain is responsible for processing music and connecting it with our memories and emotions (Janata, 2009).  

Hence, those who are affected by Alzheimer’s are able to remember and enjoy music much longer than any other memories they may have.  I will link Dr. Janata’s research here.  

Dr. Janata's research is summarized in the photo above.
 Found at: http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704538404574540163096944766 

I am learning so much by volunteering at Best Friends Day Center and cannot wait for more visits in the future.  Continue following our blog for more posts and updates.  Thank you so much for reading! 

- Madalyn 

Reference: 

Janata, P. (2009). The neural architecture of music-evoked autobiographical memories. Cerebral Cortex,

           19(11), 2579-2594. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhp008