When Words Fail, Harmony Remains: Music's Impact On Dementia

 

Mariana Demboski, Lenisa Brandão.

Speech Therapy, UFSM, Santa Maria, Brazil.

 

Music creates a link to the soul of every human on Earth. In the middle of sounds and melodies, there is a bridge where scientific and analytical sense transforms into a possibility of reconnecting with one’s truest self. When the first notes came out of my violin, the only feeling existent in that room, of the communication-centered program Pacto-D-Comunicarte and the public health group Sempre Jovens, was anticipation. 

 

But, suddenly, there was a shift. One that happens every time music truly enters our brains. 

 

Suddenly, in that room, the dancing they were creating together became more than movement, but an expression of the body, a sign of how lively they were. Suddenly, the verses being spoken in growing confidence became a key to their long gone childhood. Suddenly, Alzheimer became a small word, left and forgotten in a space where there were no caretakers, no scholars, no health professionals, no “patients” - there were only humans experiencing the rarity of existing. 

 

Soon, the listening gave space to tears, to laughter, to unspoken words finally being spoken out loud. And, when the music finally came to an end, the feeling created by it didn’t. That small group of people, all with different lives, ages and conditions, talked to each other freely, telling nostalgic adventures and jokes. That small group of people, all with different views, opinions and memories, started hugging, crying and showing that, above all things, they created a home for each other in that room. ´

 

Music was not finished when the piece ended - it only gave way to the most natural and beautiful of melodies: the non-stopping sounds of humans allowing themselves to learn, love, live and be. Before the last song, a hushed whisper could be heard, said by a voice that would, many times, lose itself inside the labyrinth of its brain. Even so, her words expressed what we had all been feeling: “Oh, how I love music”.