Music Therapy Improved Dementia-Related Symptoms in Nursing Home Residents

Study in a Sentence: A personalized music program studied in more than 12,000 residents in 98 nursing homes was found to improve behavioral and mood problems associated with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia, relative to nursing home residents who did not receive the program.

Healthy for Humans: The music therapy program reduced the proportion of residents exhibiting behavioral problems or requiring medications for controlling anxiety and psychotic symptoms over six months.

Redefining Research: Testing lifestyle interventions for treatment of chronic diseases in humans can lead to faster discoveries of cost-effective interventions and also define a new avenue for therapeutics without the need to involve animal testing.