ou can sing to an Alzheimer's patient until he remembers the way home. You can sing commands to a physically disabled child until he coordinates his movements. Music can even give a much needed push to a stomach that stubbornly refuses to digest or restraint to a bladder that has lost control.

Doctors and therapists have shown in the last 50 years that music is one of the most effective tools in correcting a range of disorders associated with the brain, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

Memory, in particular, is where music helps most. There is a part of the human brain where music stays indelibly. Called the rostromedial prefrontal cortex and centrally located behind the forehead, this portion of the brain processes and tracks music. It is also active during memory retrieval, according to latest research at Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H.

PHOTO: Kodi Barth At therapy with disabled kids, Elizabeth Balzano of Heartsongs always sings commands.

So in the event that a brain, like a computer hard dive, crashes and information gets jumbled or obliterated, music is the last memory to go.

Because music is hard to remove once it is in the brain, it can be used by therapists to reconstruct a jumbled consciousness and, by extension, a body's motor reflexes.

"The auditory system has connections with areas of the brain where long-term memories are kept," said Dr. Concetta Tomaino, director of Institute for Music and Neurologic Function in the Bronx, N.Y. There are cells within the ear that register the frequency of vibrations and transform these signals into sound events, she said. These are the sounds that are stored in the brain.

Music and Alzheimer's

uch sounds are the only things that Alzheimer's patients, who demonstrate premature senility and loss of memory, may have left.

During therapy sessions for Alzheimer's patients, there are those who sit indifferent until they listen to music, said Tomaino. As the music plays, their faces brighten and they appear "very much in the here and now."

"They may even sing a song and recall the lyrics perfectly," she said.

But music prescription for Alzheimer's patients is best during the disease's early stages. The longer a patient suffers the disease, the greater the memory loss, to the point where they may not remember their own name, family or home.

"Some memories are very deeply preserved," said Tomaino. "We play music that has personal meaning to them to try and establish an emotional connection."

Once that connection is established, it is possible to reconstruct whatever memories the patients may have left into a sensible pattern. Hearing a particular song can bring back memories of a high school dance, which in turn can trigger the memory of the exact location of the school, former classmates and, eventually, the way home.

Music and body movement

PHOTO: Kodi Barth

Jessica, a volunteer at Heartsong, sings movement commands.

odern music therapy came into prominence after World War II. As wounded soldiers filled hospital beds, doctors noted that music did more than boost morale; it also greatly enhanced the recovery process.

But since the times of Pythagoras in ancient Greece, physicians noted that music relaxes the mind and body and can effortlessly trigger such motor reflexes as digestion, bladder control and movement of the limbs.

Movement can be a big issue for a Parkinson's patient or someone who recently had a stroke. In either case, a patient may walk in a jerky fashion, dragging a whole side of the body in total disharmony with the other. But if a therapist grabs a drum, starts on a rhythm and tells the patient to walk to the beat, they will do it, according to Tomaino.

"If you see it, it's absolutely remarkable," she said. "Play a metronomic beat and they will walk perfectly on the beat." The rhythm helps them sidestep all the coordination process they are not able to think through otherwise, she explained.

"It's almost impossible to lose music, because contrary to speech, it is processed in so many different areas of the brain," said Tomaino. "Even if you're deaf, the vibrations can reach you."

PHOTO: Bronx Times
Dr. Concetta Tomaino
Director of the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function at Beth Abraham Hospital in the Bronx.

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