Research Uses Music to Reach People With Traumatic Brain Injuries

A study has demonstrated that music can invoke memory, and researchers are trying to determine whether music can be used as therapy for people once considered beyond reach, reports inewsource.org . Ten residents at the Villa Coronado nursing community are participating in a $1.4 million California study exploring the linkage between memory and music. Researchers at the University of California, Davis have teamed up with the California Association of Health Facilities to determine whether music can replace antipsychotic drugs in nursing community residents who are vulnerable to agitation and help improve their quality of life. More than 4,500 men and women living in 300 California nursing communities are participating in the study, which targets people with dementia. Those with traumatic brain injury also can exhibit aggressive behavior. Recent research also implies music therapy could help people recover from a coma or a vegetative state. "Half the time you might think that your patient is unconscious, although he is conscious or showing signs of consciousness," says University of California, Los Angeles Professor Caroline Schnakers. "This is mind-boggling."