Music and the Brain

I love reading about the effects of music on the human brain. Totally fascinating. Today the NYT ran a review of a book about music and the brain focused on disorders or unusual processing.

…[M]usic can help orient and anchor patients with advanced dementia because “musical perception, musical sensibility, musical emotion and musical memory can survive long after other forms of memory have disappeared.”

My memory isn’t the greatest, but I do pretty well remembering lyrics and music to songs I hear alot. And if I initially forget the lyrics, humming the tune is usually all it takes to start remembering the words, even of songs that I haven’t heard in many years. I can’t wait to see how well I am able to recall songs when I am really old – and it will be interesting to see which ones I recall. I can just see it now…I will be the life of the nursing home…my Alzheimer’s in full effect, not even remembering my own name but belting out every word of “Ice Ice Baby” as I shuffle rhythmically down the corridor.