Open AccessMUSIC THERAPY IN DEMENTIA PATIENTS: WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?
Author(s) -
M. Gomes,
A. C. T. Rodrigues,
Indianara Rosa,
Daniel Perez Sampaio
Publication year - 2021
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Conference proceedings
DOI - 10.5327/1980-5764.rpda078
Subject(s) - dementia , music therapy , apathy , psychology , singing , anxiety , cognition , verbal fluency test , psychological intervention , clinical psychology , medicine , psychotherapist , psychiatry , disease , neuropsychology , management , pathology , economics
Background: Dementia is an acquired status, characterized by a decline in at least two cognitive domains, severe enough to affect social or occupational functioning. The standard pharmacological treatment for dementia has limited efficacy, especially in non-cognitive outcomes. Music therapy (MT) is being studied as anon-pharmacological therapy for Dementia, due to its stimulating effects. Objective: Understand the main benefits of MT in dementia patients, through a systematic review. Methods: A literature research was carried out using the databases: PubMed and Scielo. The period of publication was limited from 2016 to 2021, with the search keywords: Music Therapy, Dementia. 297 studies were found, and 15 met the inclusion criteria for our review. Results: MT includes passive (listening to music) and active participation, such as playing instruments, singing or songwriting. Listening to music is linked with wild cortical activation and is a strong stimulus for neuroplastic changes. MT provides multimodal skills, performing integration of various cognitive functions, such as memory and attention, especially in interactive interventions. Conclusion: Studies showed mixed results, especially due to the lack of standardized methods for musical stimulus, but in general, MT was considered to improve verbal and language fluency, anxiety and depression levels, apathy, cognitive function and quality of life, and decrease neuronal degeneration by enhancing cerebral plasticity.