At a nursing home in Australia, a large number of residents suffer from dementia, a relentless disease that robs them of their memory and ability to perform the most basic daily tasks. Nurses are desperate to connect with these patients and inspire them to improve their degenerative diseases. Notably, in their daily rounds of medication and physical therapy routines, they derive great success from a surprising source: music. What makes us so intense and direct about music, and how can it be used to treat neurological and physical ailments? Music on the Brain explores the depth of these intriguing questions, while revealing potentially far-reaching therapeutic breakthroughs.
It’s all part of a new experimental program called ‘Music and Memory’, an experimental treatment program now being used in a growing number of nursing facilities across Australia. After researching the patient’s medical history, nurses create a personalized playlist for each patient on the iPod. These playlists contain pieces of music that may have special meaning in their lives.
This film shows us the moving effects of these efforts. Patients whose responses have been chronically suppressed or dormant are revived by the familiar melody of an old favorite song. You remember the lyrics well. You pat your feet back with renewed radiance and vitality. The memories are there, and the music provides a way for them to come out. Nurses and researchers hope these responses will provide avenues for improving overall cognitive function, physical capacity and other care modalities.
Music on the Brain examines the neuroscience behind the alluring power of music—for example, how our brains complete the beat of information between notes—and makes a compelling case for its use in care settings around the world as a viable treatment. But the film also takes an inspiring, glowing look at an older generation that still has a lot to offer, and the power of music and relationships to unleash that potential.
