Music in the mediation of cognitive processes in the elderly

Abstract

This study examines the state of a knowledge corpus and its results gathered in recent studies as for the application of music-therapeutic techniques and the designing of intervention strategies focused on the stimulus and empowerment of the residual capabilities of the patient with Alzheimer. This approach helps to reduce the symptoms significantly either during or after the therapy. A different study allows to recognize the impact that the application of an intervention program has on the cognitive, affective and independence areas. This study revealed that the independence capability is proportional to the degree of the physical and the neuropsychological functionality of the elderly. Additionally, a conclusion drawn from a quasi-experimental, prospective and longitudinal community intervention study, having as main objective to improve the coordination, the functionality, the mobility, the balance and in general, the psychomotricity of the elderly, by means of an intervention program utilizing music-therapy, showed that there exits improvement in self-esteem, self-perception and sense of belonging among the individuals, exposing a considerably decrease in the feeling of rejection. These previous studies provided the main objective of this research which is to generate a theoretical approach intended to use music as a strategy for mediating the elderly cognitive processes. It has been found that music may produce changes in human-beings. This applies to the therapeutic value of music since its principal effects on the individual focus on three relevant areas: the physiological, the psychological and the intellectual area. When these three areas are integrated and worked as a whole, it can be proven as an enormous social effect. Thus, these findings analyses show a significant contribution to the assistance of the elderly, particularly addressed to educators and therapists of centers or institutions for the elderly which represent the settings of this study.