How Singing Unlocks The Brain

[Guest guest]

By Jane Elliott

BBC News Health reporter

 

The brain

Singing is thought to help the brain re-learn communication skills

As Bill Bundock's Alzheimer's progressed he became more and more

locked into his own world.

 

He withdrew into himself and stopped communicating with his wife, Jean.

 

Jean said Bill lost his motivation, and his desire and ability to hold

conversations, but all this changed when the couple started attending

a local sing-song group, aimed especially for people with dementia.

 

Jean said Singing for the Brain had unlocked Bill's communication block.

 

Personality change

 

" The first time we went to Singing for the Brain he did not join in.

On the second session he was starting to join in and by the third he

was thoroughly taking part.

 

" It was wonderful for us. The singing had started to change something.

It really did make a tremendous difference. He started to come out of

himself.

 

 

I would take the song sheets home after the sessions and we would sing

them at home

Jean Bundock

 

" His personality started to change and he became much as he was

before, and he was able to hold a conversation.

 

" He is 82 and likes all the old-time songs, but he also started

singing some Beatles songs and songs from the Broadway shows and even

some modern stuff as well.

 

" He seemed to be able to slowly learn things again. I would take the

song sheets home after the sessions and we would sing them at home. It

enlivened him and he really enjoyed doing it. "

 

Bill, from west Berkshire, has been in hospital recently after having

a stroke, but Jean kept up the singing and said it has given them both

a focus, even helping his slurred speech recover following the stroke.

 

" I don't know what it is that changes in the brain when people with

Alzheimer's sing, but obviously something does change and there is

something very beneficial about it. It seems to kick-start something

in the brain and has made such a difference to Bill. "

 

Emotional resonance

 

Chreanne Montgomery-Smith, who founded Singing for the Brain, three

years ago, said the weekly sessions had proved so popular they were

hoping to expand the project and get more weekly groups.

 

" We do have quite an avid following in the group that we have.

Families believe it has enhanced their lives and in some ways it has

kept people well longer.

 

" People who have constant memory problems are so undermined by this,

but somehow the memory for singing is preserved for ever in the brain

and it gives people a lift when they can remember things " .

 

 

We choose things to sing for people that have an emotional resonance

Chreanne Montgomery-Smith

 

Chreanne started singing with groups when she was working in a

residential home and was so amazed by the positive effect on people

with dementia that she decided to include this when she went to work

for the Alzheimer's Society West Berkshire branch.

 

" We choose things to sing for people that have an emotional resonance,

things that allow them to express their emotions such as feeling cross

or sad as well as happy.

 

Singing tutor Liz McNaughton, a freelance voice coach with Singing for

the Brain, explained the concept had been so popular and successful

that she had been asked to run workshops for people with Parkinson's

Disease, those who had strokes and head injuries and for people with

special needs.

 

" It would seem, and there is a lot of research about this, that the

music has the ability to access words. It is so powerful that people

who have lost their ability to speak can access songs and words from

the melody. "

 

She said the singing sessions appeared to have positive effects on

participants' cognitive powers, their physical ability and their emotions.

 

Rhythm 'beneficial'

 

Clive Evers, of the Alzheimer's Society said Singing for the Brain was

proving so popular and beneficial that he hoped more groups would soon

be established.

 

" What Chreanne Montgomery-Smith is tapping into is very important. It

is not the stream of consciousness, but a level of consciousness, a

level of awareness people have with the real world.

 

Bill and Jean Fourth and fifth from left) with Liz McNaughton singing

Singing for the Brain

 

" The music allows them to engage. Her project is very important and

shows what can be done. "

 

Clive Ballard, director of research at the Alzheimer's Society and

Professor of Age Related Diseases at King's College, London, said

singing as an activity did seem to help people with dementia.

 

" People seem to enjoy doing something jointly with other people and

there is a lot of evidence that being socially engaged is good for

people with dementia. "

 

He said the part of the brain that worked with speech was different to

the part that processed music, allowing those who had lost their

speech to still enjoy their music.

 

Mr Ballard said rhythm had also been shown to be beneficial,

particularly for those with diseases like Parkinson's where movement

was a problem. He said listening to rhythms, even just a metronome,

could help.