Unlocking Memories Through the Power of Music

Over five million people in the United States have Alzheimer’s disease.

Within the next thirty years, that number could reach as high as sixteen million. 

As this statistic continues to increase dramatically, more people are realizing that medicating those suffering from Alzheimer’s just doesn’t cut it. It only slaps on the proverbial Band-Aid and causes the patients to lose their sense of self in their drug-induced, nursing home-confined states. In response to this issue, social worker Dan Cohen founded the organization called Music & Memory. Cohen’s goal: to place iPods into the hands of every Alzheimer’s patient in the United States. He believes that music can help affected elders keep their personalities alive, and free their memories from the trap this disease creates.  

In 2014, Cohen teamed up with filmmaker Michael Rossato-Bennett to create a documentary called Alive Inside. Both Cohen and Rossato-Bennett seek to improve the world we live in through their work—Cohen uses his background in both technology and social work to help seniors, and Rossato-Bennett uses his films to “make life better for all of us.” The two joined forces to create a timely and profound documentary that allows viewers a glimpse of life in a nursing home. This touching film beautifully educates viewers on the benefits of music therapy and inspires them to enact change by bringing music back into the lives of Alzheimer’s patients.

At the time that Alive Inside was released, one in nine individuals over the age of sixty-five had Alzheimer’s. The film ultimately set out to raise awareness and spark conversations about how we can better serve these individuals, but it was also created to highlight Cohen’s struggles to get the proper funding for his vision. The film was most likely intended for rich, higher-ups who could write a hefty donation check. However, with the help of a YouTube clip that went viral, the film actually reached people from all walks of life, from youths who volunteer their time visiting seniors and creating playlists all the way to the Broadway stage with the annual Broadway Alzheimer’s iPod Drive.

The reason this film was so successful was that viewers could see for themselves the dramatic reactions the patients had to hearing their favorite songs. The majority of them went from glassy-eyed stares and little communication to lively expressions, clapping, singing, and even dancing. The film shows an interview with Dr. Oliver Sacks, who explains this phenomenon—he tells of the way certain medications and living conditions can cause patients to retreat into themselves, and how music is the key factor that animates them again, bringing their true selves back to the surface and unlocking the memories that were once thought to be lost.

Alive Inside won the 2014 Sundance Film Festival’s Audience Award, and Music & Memory has not only received thousands of iPod and monetary donations, but has also been featured on various media platforms that have raised awareness of the organization. This biggest success of this film, however, is that it reminds us as a society that our elders are still important members of our community, and we should do all that we can to care for them. In a raw and emotional way, this film shows us that instead of sitting back while seniors with Alzheimer’s withdraw into their own inner prisons, we should use whatever means we can to bring life and happiness to them. Music is such an easy and affordable way to do this, yet it is also extremely powerful, in both emotions and memories.

While the film backs up the ideas of music therapy with experts’ opinions and scientific evidence of the cognitive benefits of music, the largest response to the film is an emotional one. Watching as residents receive their music for the first time tugs at viewers’ heartstrings, evoking both smiles and tears. It makes us want to hug our grandparents or dig out our wallets and scream “take my money!"

Yes, the film successfully heightens our understanding of just how powerful music can be, and it opens our hearts to the awareness that we can make a difference, even in something as simple as creating a playlist.