Baroque music & dementia

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, Oct, 2004 by Jule Klotter

Australian psychiatrist and musician Christian Heim led a study testing the effects of baroque music on 14 dementia patients living in a Newcastle nursing home. During the six-week observational study, specially-chosen Baroque music played at a low volume, for four hours each evening on a speaker system that reached all bedrooms and common areas. "Baroque" refers to music written during the late-1600s to mid-1700s and includes the composers Handel, Vivaldi, Bach, Corelli, and Telemann. Researchers chose slower pieces with a tempo of about 60 beats/minute, such as J.S. Bach's "Sheep May Safely Graze" or the second movements of many concerti. Other studies have shown that such compositions produce alpha brain waves and "a state of calm, relaxed alertness." Throughout the six weeks, nursing staff took notes on patient behavior. The researchers found a 40% reduction in adverse behaviors that included wandering, distraction, inability to focus, calling out, verbal abuse, and agitation.

Janelle Tavender, Director of Nursing at Maroba Nursing Home where the study took place, described the effect that the music had on one patient during an Australian Broadcasting Corp. interview. The woman was very vocal and unable to focus long enough to eat. She also wandered into all the bedrooms and would strip the beds and "often herself." When the music was added to her environment, the patient could sit for fiveminute periods and eat some food. Although she still wandered into other patients' bedrooms and would lie down on their beds, she no longer stripped the beds or herself. Because of the music's positive effect, staff has continued to use slow baroque pieces of music to calm her.

Baroque Dementia. The National Interest. 11 July 2004. www.abc.net.au

Baroque music 'calms dementia.' Herald Sun. 20 January 04. www.heraldsun.news.com.au