New music therapy helps treat dementia syndrome

Professor Felicity Baker at the Research Center for Music Therapy and Creative Arts, University of Melbourne, says music is invaluable in providing long-term memories for dementia patients. wisdom. Listening to familiar songs can help people tend to be more mindful of their surroundings and connect with family members through meaningful musical experiences.

Music is invaluable therapy, bringing about long-term memories for patients with dementia.

Professor Baker said the new therapy, called Music Attuned Technology - Care via eHealth (MATCH), is designed to stimulate flashbacks, control euphoria, and reduce the severity of behaviors. micro-challenging opposition, reducing depression and improving mood. The app will come with programs to teach family caregivers how to use music to help relieve symptoms of dementia in their loved one, such as suddenly becoming distraught or angry for no reason.

The app was developed after two waves of clinical trials, including one trial of music therapy for dementia patients in an aged care facility and one training session for people in the community. Families with dementia patients about how to support their loved one with home music.

According to Professor Baker, in the final stage, the application will be connected to high-tech sensors mounted on the body of dementia patients, to detect behavioral changes, such as: suddenly angry. Sensors controlled by 'artificial intelligence' (AI) will memorize the patient's behavioral patterns to detect any sudden changes and trigger the right music to ease the mood. their. In addition, the tempo, genre, and volume of the music will be continuously adjusted to suit the patient's condition.

The MATCH team of experts is currently testing this new method in homes across Australia and continues to develop the sensors and accompanying AI technology. Scientists hope to deploy the application in practice in 2023, and the sensor system will be launched in 2025.