Why put the music of your life to a person with Alzheimer's

She was born in Valencia, emigrated to Cuba and was the principal dancer of the New York Ballet in the 1960s.

Little else is known about the life of Marta González.

However, her image

of Tchaikovsky

dancing

sitting in a wheelchair went viral last Monday, the day of the first anniversary of her death.

He had

, but the disease did not prevent him from moving his arms to the rhythm of the melody with the elegance of his profession, while he remembered each of the steps of this dance as if the music gave him the instructions to follow it.

The images of Marta, shared by Music for Awakening, seek to commemorate her and, at the same time, teach the effects that music has on people with Alzheimer's.

A song, a melody, a humming or simply clapping hands can activate some of the areas of the brain of a person with this disease.

But how can this happen when they barely remember their lives?

“We all have experiences related to the emotions that music awakens in us.

Without knowing how or why,

with a set of songs associated with our autobiographical memory ", explains Nina Gramunt, neuropsychologist at the Pasqual Maragall Foundation and responsible for the social project Life Soundtrack.

These connections that the brain makes between music and experiences are among the last to be lost.

“

.

The disease begins by damaging the hippocampus, a vital brain structure for the formation of new memories and the learning process, ”explains Manual Arias, a neurologist at the Hospital Clínico de Santiago de Compostela and a musician.

Little by little it attacks other areas such as the temporal lobe, which goes from the temple to the back of the ear, and language and even self-awareness are lost.

But music resists because "it is stored in areas that are not usually associated with episodic, semantic or autobiographical memory, so it is preserved despite the overwhelming passage of Alzheimer's through the brain."

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Hence, music seems like one of the most powerful tools that can be used by those who care for people with Alzheimer's, whether they are professionals or not.

Thinking precisely of them - the caregivers - a team from the MARCS Institute for Brain, Behavior and Development, University of Western Sydney (Australia),

has produced a guide for families of people with dementia to choose the right music and create

custom

.

To begin with, some general guidelines can be taken.

According to research by MARCS experts, who worked with 45 people with dementia and their caregivers for six weeks,

— like

Louis Armstrong's

, which is on a list of songs recommended by the Institute — because fast ones tend to make them uncomfortable and overwhelm.

And most people showed a preference for songs from when they were between 15 and 30 years old.

When choosing a song, different variables must be taken into account such as the person's mood, physical and mental health, as well as levels of agitation, anxiety, withdrawal and verbal commitment (characteristic symptoms of Alzheimer's and other dementias ).

If the patient, for example, is predisposed to depression, experts recommend happy songs with moderate tempos, that is, that have between 80 and 120 beats per minute (BPM), such as

(100 BPM) or

by Frank Sinatra (108 PPM).

These same rhythms, without accelerating them further, are valid for those who are more apathetic.

But there are those who, due to their particularities, need slower music.

Those who have trouble falling asleep or tend to be more agitated often need times below 80 PPM, such as melodies like the

Beatles'

(72 PPM) or

Don Maclean's

(54 PPM).

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The key to success is in customization.

Just as Marta was thrilled to hear the second act of Tchaikovsky's play because it was part of her past, Australian researchers found that

.

In addition, it allowed them to enjoy listening sensations more and reduced their apathy, anxiety and sadness.

They are not the only ones who have observed the beneficial effects of the right song at the right time.

Various studies have shown that music improves cognitive function, orientation, language, conversation skills, social relationships and mood.

“There are times when patients cannot understand our words, but they can understand our tone and its emotional content.

Music opens this channel of communication, ”says Pepe Olmedo, health psychologist, master in music therapy, and director and founder of Música para Despertar.

Bearing all this in mind, do not forget by and for whom the list that is being prepared is.

That is, you have to listen to the opinion of the patient.

Olmedo explains the process carried out by Música para Despertar: “We are navigating through the life history of the person, knowing those geographical places where they have spent more time, if they danced, sang or played an instrument.

For this we rely on their relatives and once we have the possible songs or artists it

.

Possibly the emotion you feel is very intense, since it represents a ray of light in the disease, the opportunity to feel alive, valid and protagonists, with a vital soundtrack that accompanies and covers it ”.

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Olmedo's experience has taught him that “in the mildest phases, the person expresses when he wants to listen to music and which one.

. "

Here, body language will say it all.

“We look at the responses of his body, a hand that moves to the rhythm of the music, a tear, a smile, feet that carry the beat or that want to dance, the following of refrains, sighs, memories that emerge and that they share a more focused attention, a decrease in tremors, a more focused or more present gaze, or some sounds that sing or try ”.

Finally, you have to observe

.

This way, it is possible to avoid, for example, agitation or anxiety.

And also facilitate everyday situations that normally become complicated.

“Difficulties are common when it comes to hygiene, eating or even going to the toilet.

We have verified how the songs that have accompanied their lives help ", points out Olmedo, who says that with some patients they manage to dance to the bathroom. Here, according to the Australian guide, the tempo is not so important as that the music is pleasant enough Again, it is up to each individual to read: "What relaxes one person can make another nervous, therefore, we will have to be detectives of the person's verbal and non-verbal language."