Music therapy is an effective treatment for Alzheimer's disease. It improves social behaviors and reduces agitation. Music therapy is thought to work by altering how patients perceive their environment, making noises seem familiar and lessening fear. It provides structure and allows for interaction. Neuroimaging shows the brains of musicians differ structurally from non-musicians, indicating music can cause anatomical changes. Music affects the production of neurotransmitters, hormones, cytokines and peptides in the body. It has been shown to increase estrogen and testosterone while decreasing cortisol, helping to reduce stress. This may be one mechanism by which music therapy helps cognitive functions in Alzheimer's patients.

1. Music and brain
Eman youssif

2. The content:
Attention and music
Improve memory with music
Prevent Alzheimer’s disease by music
Mechanism of (music and enhance brain cells)
Success stories of treat Alzheimer’s by music

3. Music therapy (MT) is one of the most common treatments for Alzheimer's disease
(AD).[1] The effectiveness of music therapy can depend on the quality and length of
treatment as well as other factors.[2] Some of the most common effects of MT are
improved social behaviors, like interpersonal interactions and conversations.[3]
Overall, MT improves social behaviors by reducing wandering, restlessness, and
agitated behaviors

4. Music therapy is assumed to be effective
because it reduces agitation by altering how
patients perceive noise.[1] MT can help patients
with AD interpret his or her environment, which
may lessen any fear or agitation.[1] For example,
MT can make noises seem familiar and buffer
extraneous noises that frighten patients with AD
. Furthermore, MT can provide a way for
patients with AD to communicate and interact
with others

5. Music Therapy is a type of treatment and interventions used to create soothing,
stimulating environments to improve to enhance pro-social behavior and reduce
agitated behaviors.[4][15] MT demonstrates that AD patients can continue
participating in structured music activities even when their functioning level continues
to deteriorate.[16] Individuals in the final stages of Alzheimer’s also benefit from the
use music therapy, because it has sedative and comfort purposes.[17] There are
several different types of music therapy for patients with Alzheimer’s. For example,
some daily interventions of music include playing an instrument, singing, listening to
recorded music, movement to music. Most types of music therapy are effective at
alleviating and reducing agitated behaviors and refocusing attention

6. Playing instruments[edit]
Instruments are often implemented in MT for Alzheimer’s patients that have
musical backgrounds, because in many cases procedural musical memory is
still preserved. As a result, some patients with AD retain the ability to play
instruments, such as the piano. Some studies suggest for people with minimal
guitar experience to implement MT that involves playing easy instruments.[1]
A study utilized the Autoharp and Omni, which are simple instruments that
Alzheimer’s patients without musical background can use as a music therapy
to stimulate and soothe

7. Listening to recorded music[edit]
Familiarized and individualized music is a type of music previously known to the
individual before onset of AD, which is used to reduce agitated
behaviors.[4][9][18][19][20][21] For example, a study used individualized recorded
music for MT with Alzheimer's patients residing in long-term care and observed the
immediate reduction on their agitation.[14] Also, another study found that
individualized music can help Alzheimer's patients elicit autobiographical memories by
promoting positive emotional memories.[22] Familiar music may serve to regulate the
arousal of people with AD to a moderate level or redirect a person’s attention from
misleading or confusing stimuli

8. Group music therapy[edit]
Group music therapy entails Alzheimer's patients participating in music
therapy sessions, while interacting with others. Furthermore, an experiment
used group music therapy and found that it helped patients get over negative
and sad feelings to really enjoy the musical experience.[23] Music therapy
groups may especially promote feelings of belonging among participants with
dementia

9. Famous musician, Glen Campbell, whom suffered from Alzheimer's

10. Neuroimaging techniques have revealed structural changes in the human
brain that coincide with, and probably underlie, specialized cognitive abilities.
Several recent studies have shown that musical training is associated with
features of brain anatomy in both auditory and motor regions of the brain. In
the auditory domain, structural magnetic resonance imaging has shown a
greater volume of auditory cortex in professional musicians as compared with
non-musicians149, which is correlated with pitch perception ability150. In the
motor domain, it has been shown149 that musicians have greater greymatter concentration in motor cortices, consistent with earlier functional
data151 showing that expert string players had a larger cortical
representation of the digits of the left hand.

11. The latter effect was correlated with the age when musical training started, such that
those who began earlier showed larger representations. A larger anterior corpus
callosum has also been reported in musicians compared with non-musicians, again, in
relation to early training152. These findings imply a sensitive period for motor
performance, compatible with behavioural evidence153. Volume differences between
musicians and non-musicians have also been reported in the cerebellar
hemispheres154, but only for men. The figure shows the results of a recent study
using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)155, which showed evidence for greater whitematter coherence (as indicated by increased functional anisotropy in this region, see
graph) in the internal capsule (coloured areas in the left hand panel) of professional
musicians, and this feature was specifically related to the number of hours practiced in
childhood. Taken together, these findings indicate that the brains of musicians differ
structurally from those of non-musicians, and that these differences may be related to
when musical training begins, and/or to the amount of training. An outstanding
question is whether these structural differences are solely the result of musical
training, or whether they may also be related to pre-existing differences in auditory or
motor abilities that allow these individuals to excel once they receive musical training.
Figure modified with permission from Nature Neuroscience Ref. 155 © (2005)
Macmillan Publishers Ltd.

12. The Effect of Music on the
Production of Neurotransmitters,
Hormones, Cytokines, and Peptides

13. Music characterized by genres and musical elements evoke distinct patterns of
messenger production. Music of Johann Strauss caused rises in atrial filling fraction
and atrial natriuretic peptide and falls in cortisol and tissue-type plasminogen
activator (t-PA). Prolactin, cortisol, noradrenaline, and t-PA concentrations decreased
after listening to the music of H. W. Henze. Ravi Shankar’s music resulted in lowered
concentrations of cortisol, noradrenaline, and t-PA.6–8 Listening to techno music was
found to alter levels of β-endorphin, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH),
norepinephrine, growth hormone, prolactin, and cortisol in healthy people.9,10
Critically ill patients who listened to Mozart’s slow piano sonatas had increased growth
hormone and decreased interleukin (IL) 6 levels.11 Appreciation of a mixed selection
of rock music increased salivary immunoglobulin A (IgA).12 The effects of major and
minor modes13 and intensity of music14 on cortisol production have also been
studied.
Different methods of measuring the concentrations were implemented. Almost all the
studies mentioned involve blood drawn from the participants and tested for cytokines,
Igs, hormones, and neurotransmitters by immunoassays, such as radioimmunossays
and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) to determine the concentrations.
Dopamine levels were measured by observing fluorescence intensities with a brainmapping analyzer.5 High-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to measure
norepinephrine and epinephrine

14. In some studies, participants were administered music to assess the possible
relationship of perception and levels of particular messengers. Platelet
serotonin is lower in participants exposed to unpleasant music than those
who listened to pleasant music.16 Cortisol, IL-1β, and IL-10 levels did not
change in those listening to preferred music but changed in those exposed to
relaxing music.17,18 Both morphine and IL-6 decreased in patients exposed
to preferred music, leading to lower blood pressure.18
The clinical area has displayed promising effects of music in battling specific
conditions. Music decreases plasma concentrations of cortisol, epinephrine,
and t-PA in patients exposed to regional anesthesia.19,20 Music also is known
to aid in fighting cerebrovascular disease by activation of parasympathetic
nervous system, lowering concentrations of IL-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF),
adrenaline, and noradrenaline.21 Adrenocorticotropic hormone, cortisol,
adrenaline, and noradrenaline also have been measured before and after
gastroscopy.22 Biochemical messenger production has been found influential
in providing a calming effect in elderly patients with Alzheimer dementia

15. Music has proven effective in improving the immune function. Decreased
corticosteroid production correlates with the effect of music on immunity.25
Rises in concentrations of salivary IgA12,25–29 and IL-130 are associated with
falls in salivary and plasma cortisol levels, respectively. In regard to countering
the harmful effects of stress on immunity, music has even proven to be as
helpful as pharmacological treatments, such as benzodiazepines and 5
hydroxytryptamine (HT) agonists. There is also evidence that music may lead
to production of hormones and neurotransmitters that participate in T cell
proliferation and antitumor signaling.31,32
Explanations for certain phenomena, such as learning, have become possible
with knowledge of the effect of music on the production of messengers. For
example, music influences production of steroids including cortisol,
testosterone, and estrogen as well as their receptor proteins, leading to
neurogenesis and improvements in learning in the brain.33 Music may
regulate the production of neurotrophins in the hypothalamus, causing
reduction in stress and improved learning as well

16. Not all studies concerned have produced results indicating correlations
between psychological and physiological outcomes. Although patients felt
less anxious after listening to music, they revealed no differences in
concentrations of norepinephrine, epinephrine, cortisol, or ACTH.15,35 Some
results have been found to conflict with each other. Music therapy increased
adrenaline in one study36 but decreased adrenaline in another,21 a result of
the fact that music therapy protocols vary from one administrator to another

17. Further research is needed to explain with more specificity the relationship
between the psychological and physiological manifestations of music. It has
long been considered that physiology affects psychology in a unidirectional
manner. However, some evidence indicates otherwise as oxytocin production
is increased by listening to music. Thus, psychological mechanisms influence
physiological processes. More studies are needed to clarify such cause and
effect relationships

18. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mem
ory_improvement

19. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alzheimer%27s_disease

20. Music therapy

21. Once an alternative method, music therapy is becoming increasingly
integrated into medical care, so much so that it is now used for ailments
ranging from cancer and psychiatric illness to babies born prematurely. The
therapy builds on traditional counseling practices by incorporating, depending
on the patient’s needs and interests, things like instrument playing, singing,
and listening to music, helping to unleash creativity, reduce discomfort, and
enhance the overall experience of being in the hospital. And it’s not just an
untested, new age therapy—the experts say it works.

22. “Physiologically and neurologically, music therapy is processed throughout
your entire brain. It has this really great power on healing, both emotional
healing, physical healing, social healing,” explains Lorrie Kubicek, a certified
music therapist at Massachusetts General Hospital’s HOPES program. “Then
there is the idea that music is kind of a universal phenomenon: Everyone has
some idea of music, from newborn infants to preborn infants, all the way
through to the very elderly.”

23. Listening to music can prompt the brain to send positive signals throughout the body

24. The research team showed that music engages the areas of the brain involved
with paying attention, making predictions and updating the event in memory.
Peak brain activity occurred during a short period of silence between musical
movements—when seemingly nothing was happening.
Beyond understanding the process of listening to music, their work has farreaching implications for how human brains sort out events in general. Their
findings are published in the Aug. 2 issue of Neuron.
The researchers caught glimpses of the brain in action using functional
magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, which gives a dynamic image showing
which parts of the brain are working during a given activity. The goal of the
study was to look at how the brain sorts out events, but the research also
revealed that musical techniques used by composers 200 years ago help the
brain organize incoming information.

25. Musical therapy has been an increasingly popular method of treatment for
Alzheimer’s owing to its efficacy, low-cost, non-invasiveness, and it’s virtually nonexistent side-effects. MT’s effectiveness may be due to the general observed
preservation of musical memory in AD, though for the main part, it’s mechanism of
action are still unknown.

26. Proposed Mechanisms of MT
Action

27. Steroid hormones exert many vital effects on the brain and regulate a wide
variety of functions such as brain development, neurogenesis, neuronal
protection, memory and cognition. Estrogen plays a role in gene expression
regulation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and nerve growth
factor (NGF) protecting the nerves and controlling cell proliferation.
Testosterone has been attributed to decreasing the peptide β amyloid, a
component of amyloid plaques, which has been associated with Alzheimer’s
disease, by means of NGF and p75-NGF receptor elevation.

28. Studies have found differing levels of steroid hormones in Alzheimer’s
patients compared to healthy individuals. Age-related decreases in estrogen
levels have been associated with cognitive dysfunction, learning and mood
disorders. However, estrogen has been found to be markedly lower in
Alzheimer’s outside of age-related effects. Low levels of estrogen may
accelerate AD development by expediting β amyloid production and
deposition. Estrogen replacement therapy has been administered to female
Alzheimer’s patients where it has been shown to improve memory and
attention. Likewise, optimal testosterone levels seem to be a vital aspect of
normal cognitive function. Levels of testosterone have also been found to be
lower in AD as compared to healthy counterparts, even within the elderly
population. Testosterone administration is reported to improve spatial
cognitive function in AD patients. Due to the importance of sex hormones and
their roles in normal brain function, reductions in estrogen and testosterone
pose as risk factors for AD.

29. that musical therapy increases estradiol and testosterone levels in
Alzheimer’s patients, proposing a preventative value in music and a possible
mechanism by which musical therapy has been found to be effective in this
disease. Passive and indirect music application, such as listening to music,
reportedly increases 17-β-estradiol levels, while direct music application
termed “music therapy” showed the greatest increase. Music therapy also
significantly increases testosterone in the same way.

30. Music has been widely associated with assuaging and lowering stress,
observed both behaviourally and physiologically. Music’s effects on the body’s
stress system had been attributed to reductions in cortisol in a sex
independent manner. In AD, where the physical and mental stress associated
with the disease is correlated with increased cortisol levels, music can help
effectively suppresses stress responses in both genders. Other hormones
apart of the stress/HPA axis, such as CRH (which promotes ACTH secretion)
and ACTH (a hormone that in turn controls cortisol secretion), are also likely
involved in music-mediated stress reduction

31. Several studies, as well as anecdotal observations, have linked music to
positive adjustments in mood and sleep quality, through the modulation of
hormones such as melatonin .Melatonin plays an important role in the
regulation of monoamine activities, the HPA stress axis, sleep and behaviour.
Its levels are negatively correlated with age, where these effects become
exaggerated in disorders such as AD. After musical therapy conditions,
patients with Alzheimer’s showed a significant increase in serum melatonin
levels, as compared to various other hormones such as serotonin and
prolactin, where this increase carried over and further increased 6 weeks
following the musical therapy.

32. References:
http://www.nature.com/nrn/journal/v8/n7/box/nrn2152_BX1.ht
Ml
http://www.bostonmagazine.com/health/blog/2013/05/15/music
-therapy/
http://med.stanford.edu/news_releases/2007/july/music.html
http://neurowiki2013.wikidot.com/individual:music-alzheimer-sdisease