Listening to favorite music improves brain plasticity, cognitive performance of Alzheimer’s patients

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Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Researchers at the University of Toronto (U of T) and Unity Health Toronto have demonstrated that repeated listening to personally meaningful music induces beneficial brain plasticity in patients with mild cognitive impairment or early Alzheimer’s disease.

Changes in the brain’s neural pathways correlated with increased memory performance on neuropsychological tests, supporting the clinical potential of personalized, music-based interventions for people with dementia.

The landmark multi-modal study was published today in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

“We have new brain-based evidence that autobiographically salient music—that…

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