Memory is a vital aspect of identity; it allows individuals to have an enriched understanding of themselves and those who matter most to them. The most common form of dementia, Alzheimer's disease, is characterized by progressive damage to brain cells. Memory loss due to this degenerative disease causes affected individuals to lose an aspect of their identity. Thus, I have an inherent interest in how any aspect of memory can be preserved in patients with Alzheimer's disease in the hope of improving their quality of life. Recent advances in research have highlighted the possible preservation of musical memory in Alzheimer's disease, whereby patients remember and sing songs they had heard in the past. Wilder Penfield (1963) was the first theorist to become interested in musical memory research when he investigated the possibility that the temporal cortex plays the role of encoding musical memory. The neural underpinnings of musical memory subsequently became the subject of much research, although it was not until later that the correlation between Alzheimer's disease and the possible preservation of musical memory was studied. Séverine Samson became a leading researcher in this field because she hypothesized that musical memory might be intact in Alzheimer's patients because the brain regions involved might be spared major damage. (Baird and Samson, 2009). Samson also highlighted the difference between implicit and explicit forms of musical memory in a study in which individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease were able to learn to sing a new song over the course of eight different sessions, even though they did not did not remember the sessions themselves: highlighting the probability that only implicit musical memory is spared in Alzheimer's disease (Samson, Baird, Moussard & Clément, 2012). Susan Koger's research (Brotons & Koger, 2000; Koger, Chapin & Brotons, 1999) on the positive effects of music on mood, language and memory in people with dementia has provided insight into the impact of music on improving the quality of life. the lives of people with diseases affecting memory. The preservation of musical memory in dementia – with emphasis on Alzheimer's disease – will be discussed below in detail, with reference to three key studies that highlight and emphasize the positive impacts of music on this debilitating disease. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on 'Why violent video games should not be banned'?Get the original essayCuddy and Duffin (2005) conducted a case study to investigate the possibility that musical memory is spared in patients with of dementia. The reason for conducting the study was due to the inconsistency between the large amount of research regarding musical memory and brain damage, compared to the few investigations into the possible preservation of musical memory in patients with dementia. This rationale was widespread, as research is often reluctant to directly study patients with dementia due to the progressive nature of the disease coupled with the obvious problem of the inapplicability of standard research methods, as the patient is usually unable to remember instructions. The research question stemmed from the rationale and asked whether the ability to remember previously familiar music is affected in people diagnosed with dementia. A case study was carried out, centered on an individual, EN, in whomhad previously been diagnosed with probable dementia of the Alzheimer type. The patient had always been deeply devoted to listening to music and was considered an amateur pianist, and anecdotal evidence from EN's caregivers indicates that her ability to remember familiar music was intact. Three music perception tests from previous literature were adapted to formulate the data needed to test the hypothesis. First, the familiarity decision test was performed, during which ten familiar and ten unfamiliar song excerpts were played. FR did not respond to those made unknown, and only missed one familiar melody which was of French origin and, given that she was born and raised in England, it is likely that she does not not been exposed to it before. Compared to control data, EN scores indicate normal musical memory functioning. Second, the Distorted Tunes test was performed in which twenty-six popular tunes were played, but seventeen of them were altered in pitch. EN responded to the distorted tunes by frowning or laughing. Her score of twenty-five out of twenty-six considers her to have a functioning musical memory. Finally, there was the Famous Melodies test where EN was asked to indicate the level of familiarity and the name of each song. EN scored just below average on this test, although the results may be confounded by song choice, as this test was developed for a Canadian sample, so she may not have not being exposed to all music. These results support the research hypothesis that EN would display normally functioning musical memory despite his diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. The data analysis clearly correlated with the results and matched what I had experienced before. My great-grandmother, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, displayed a consistent musical memory, often humming and singing songs she had learned before her memory began to deteriorate. Thus, this study was particularly interesting to me in that a theoretically quantitative research approach was applied to what I had only witnessed anecdotally. The results were presented coherently in competent language, and the use of three different tests allowed a wide range of data to be collected. As this research comes from a case study, the question of whether EN results are typical or an exception makes it difficult to generalize the results, as well as inconsistencies with musical choice. However, overall, this case study provided in-depth insight into the possibility of a positive correlation for musical memory sparing in Alzheimer's disease. Dassa and Amir (2014) conducted an observational study to explore the role of music in encouraging conversation between individuals. diagnosed with intermediate or late-stage Alzheimer's disease. The interest in investigating the correlation between these two variables stems from the researcher's personal experience with people diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease who have lost the ability to speak due to cognitive decline. However, after a music therapy session, these people responded verbally to the music. The research questions that guided data collection focused on what participants discussed during the sessions as well as how the conversation related to the chosen musical choice. The six participants were randomly selected from residents of an Israeli nursing home, which is a limitation on generalization.of the population because the sample size is small. Qualitative data was collected from eight sessions in which the therapist sang and encouraged participants to participate, and after each song, open-ended questions were asked to facilitate conversation. The songs sung were of Israeli origin and broadcast when the participants were teenagers; this ensured that the majority of songs were familiar to participants. Participants' responses and behavior during the session were noted by the researcher, who also posed as the music therapist. This constitutes another limitation of the study due to possible author bias, as existing knowledge about Alzheimer's disease may have interfered with the collection of subjective data. Yet a peer review of the data analysis was undertaken to try to control this. Overall, the study concluded that singing familiar songs encouraged conversation among people with mid- to late-stage Alzheimer's disease, and that participants' concentration and engagement were promising, as the illness often inhibits the ability to hold and follow a conversation. As someone who has had a family member affected by this disease, the study was enjoyable to read and correlated with my own experience. There were days when my great grandmother would be distressed and would sit in silence, and we always knew that singing one of her favorite songs would make her tap her foot and slowly she would start commenting on the melody. This research provides promising insight into the positive effects of music on Alzheimer's patients, as well as recommendations for future research perhaps focused on studying the role of singing across all stages of the disease. rather than the middle to late stage, as well as on the emotional impact. what music has and how it affects conversation patterns. Using an alternative approach to previously reviewed studies, Jacobsen et al. (2015) investigated the neural areas typically involved in musical memory in people with probable Alzheimer's disease, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The reason behind conducting this study was due to the lack of objective data collected on this topic, which concerned me because most research on Alzheimer's disease and musical memory is presented in the form of observational data relying on case studies. The study included two experiments following the same procedure, although the difference was that the first experiment had a sample of thirty-two healthy participants, and the second sample of experiments consisted of thirty-four healthy participants. and twenty subjects suspected of being suffering from Alzheimer's disease. : This posed a limitation to the study, as the participants were not patients diagnosed with the disease. Participants in both experiments were exposed to three different conditions, the first being listening to unfamiliar music, the second being listening to recently known music, and the last being listening to music that had been known for a long time. fMRI measured neuronal activity while the three conditions were performed. The results support the research hypothesis that regions typically involved in musical memory coding are well preserved in Alzheimer's disease until the most advanced stages. This study provided good insight into the neural substrates underlying the possible preservation of musical memory in Alzheimer's disease and reinforces.