Staying Alive

Alive Inside

          Alzheimer’s dementia. The disease that affects 5.7 million people in the US. And that is not including the 15.9 million people who take the role of caregivers. Alzheimer’s dementia is essentially a progressive degeneration of memory loss and cognitive functioning. Since the likelihood of begin diagnosed with Alzheimer’s gets greater with age and the average lifespan is still increasing, you would think people would be trying to figure out a way to prevent it or to slow it down. One person has: Michael Bennett.

          I watched a documentary called “Alive Inside”. This film beautifully presents how our society currently deals with the disease. People usually tend to forget their sense of self with the progression of Alzheimer’s. As a result, they are not able to communicate very well and become frustrated. At that point, anger is the only way an individual can express themselves. When we stifle that down with psychoactive drugs the people become withdrawn and stop engaging with the outside world. Mr. Bennett promotes music as the optimal approach to reach people dealing with Alzheimer’s.

Music can reach memories that have been locked inside a person because the same memory is stored in different part of the brain. For example, think of your favorite meal ever. That moment is recorded in your mind by how glorious the food smelled, the music you heard in the background, how delicious the food tasted, and the emotions associated with that moment. As a lover of music, I can affirm that songs take me back to memory lane way more than any of my other senses. After reviewing some notes it is actually very simple to explain: the cortex that processes auditory information is located in the temporal lobe of the brain, along with other areas that contribute to speech comprehension and auditory memory. Luckily, the temporal lobe is one of the last parts of the brain affected by progression of Alzheimer’s dementia. This is why music works, it evokes the memories that are buried deep down and inaccessible by any other cognitive pathway. It lights that spark that makes us – us.

          I chose this documentary because of the magnitude of people that are affected by Alzheimer’s and because I have a soft spot for older people, which are both tied together in this case.  I have had many discussions about how I wish America as a society valued the elderly population rather than “discarding” them in a nursing home. Getting older is just another phase of life that we will all have to experience, (only if we are lucky), and it should not be a dreaded one. There is so much wisdom and class in a person who has experienced a long life that can be unlocked by their favorite song. I love watching stuff like this, however, along with motivating me to get involved and make a difference, it also breaks my heart. There is no point in hiding that I cried several times. If you also interested in watching this, it is on Netflix and as well as Youtube. Here is a link for the trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaB5Egej0TQ