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  • Alive Inside: How the Magic of Music Proves Therapeutic for Patients with Alzheimer's and Dementia

    Posted Friday February 21 2014 at 08:21 am.
    Used tags:

    Article and video by Democracy Now.

    Could a pair of headphones change the lives of millions of Americans suffering from Alzheimer's and dementia?  "Alive Inside: A Story of Music & Memory," a new documentary at the Sundance Film Festival, follows a social worker named Dan Cohen who has launched a campaign to bring iPods and music therapy to nursing homes.  One of the central characters he works with is a 90-something Alzheimer's patient named Henry Dryer, who was featured in a video posted online that went viral in 2012, with over 1 million views.  The above clip begins with video of Dryer looking largely unresponsive to the outside world.  Then he was given a pair of headphones to listen to Cab Calloway, his favorite artist.  The music energizes him, awakens him and helps bring back old memories.  We play clips from the film and speak with Cohen about his project, "Music & Memory", which he hopes to expand around the world.  We are also joined by Michael Rossato-Bennett, the film's director and producer.

    One comment

    Thank you for sharing. I Love this, but I also live this with my 64 year old mom...diagnosed at an early age with LB Dementia, comes alive to music from "her time", Elvis, Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn, etc. :) WendieJean - March 02 2014


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