Music, Movement, and Dementia

There is considerable research around music memory and dementia or other brain changes. There are also many programs to promote brain health and function in relation to music memory and movement. I am going to guess we have all seen or heard about the benefits of music. If not, I invite you to google it and enjoy the many hours of fun and interesting videos and articles.

There is one story I would like to focus on in this article – that of Marta Cinta, an accomplished ballerina. She was born in Cuba, danced in New York and taught in Madrid. You can read about her life and the discrepancies of her age with moving away from Cuba. The part of the story that most draws my attention is after she is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Check out the video in this article and try not to be amazed.

Just beautiful, isn’t it! Marta’s brain still tells her body how to move with grace and elegance. How does this work? Why is it the brain can lose so many things, yet keep music and movement associated with music? If you have had an experience with someone living with dementia who has trouble talking or walking, you have likely discovered that once you put their favorite music on, they sing along, and some are up and walking.

Music taps into two parts of the brain. Well, all of the brain but two parts are largely responsible for what you are seeing with this ballerina. The first is the right Temporal Lobe. This area of the brain has several skills. One of those skills is rhythm. The good news about (most) dementias is that the right Temporal Lobe is less affected by dementia than the left. More tissue of that part of the brain is retained.

The picture above is a section of brain from a person that passed after living 10 years with Alzheimer’s. In looking at the picture compare the blue circle to the green circle. The amount of tissue left in the blue circle is more than the green circle. The blue circle is the right Temporal Lobe. There is more tissue in that part of the brain, which means that rhythm is retained in people living with dementia. We see/hear this when someone living with dementia no longer speaks but they will sing a song that is well known to them.

So, what about the movement we saw from the ballerina? That takes us from the right Temporal Lobe to the Cerebellum (and other parts of the brain). Not a lot was known about the Cerebellum until recently. It is denser, thicker tissue than the rest of the brain, making it harder to scan and get images. We do know that the Cerebellum takes part in balance and in automatic movement.

Think about movements you have been doing for a long time, like washing the dishes. When you are washing the dishes do you actively think about how much pressure to hold the dish with? Do you actively think about holding the sponge or making circle movement with your hand? Most likely you are not actively thinking about those movements. You are thinking about the email that came in and you need to respond to. Or you are thinking of the perfect spice you are going to add to the dish next time you make the meal you just made. The movements, holding the dish and moving your hand in a circle, are so automatic you don’t have to actively think about them. You have done those movements so often they have become Cerebellar.

Thankfully with dementia Cerebellar movement is retained, as seen in the ballerina. The movements may look different – for example, the ballerina is sitting – but they are still there. So, the music and rhythm from the right Temporal Lobe kicks the Cerebellum into gear with other parts of the brain and you get back a moment of the professional ballerina.

Even though we are not all professional ballerinas, or professional sports this or that, the principle still stands. When a person’s preferred music is played, someone who has difficulties walking has a smooth gait again. Or someone who has been an electrician all their life, with the right music playing and tools in their hand, can re-wire your lamp. Just please, for their safety, make sure it is unplugged first!