Music plays a role in the accompaniment of people suffering from Alzheimer disease, says Hervé Platel, professor of neuropsychology at the University of Caen, France. In his laboratory, Platel explores human memory using brain imaging.
Specifically, the team observed the brains of people exposed or who were exposed to art materials, plastic or musical. He noted that musical memory involves a wide area of the brain and activates both hemispheres. If a patient has a lesion in the left hemisphere, he can suffer from significant language impairment but is able to experience music to his own benefit.
In various interviews, Platel said that patients were not only able to remember old songs, but also to learn new melodies: « If they memorize the melody very well, however, they have difficulty remembering the text. »
Yet, even though music brings well-being, music listening, unfortunately, does not heal the disease.
