March 27, 2025

Andrew Georgy

9th Grade

Fountain Valley High School

Introduction

Music and studying don’t form a symbiotic relationship. Every student knows the cycle— putting on music to “lock in,” studying through a few Spotify songs, and then getting lost in the lyrics until you completely forget what you were doing. However, for patients with neurodegenerative diseases (a term for brain disorder), music can serve as a lifeline and is often used as a form of intervention, especially for those in the early stages of these conditions.

Background

A person with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, or dementia may experience memory loss, movement difficulties, and significant mood changes, which typically worsen as they age. As these changes progress, patients often lose independence, leaving loved ones searching for treatments that are either extremely expensive or largely ineffective. This is primarily due to the blood-brain barrier, which blocks most drugs from reaching the brain, allowing them only to alleviate symptoms rather than cure the underlying disease.

So what’s the solution? What’s a relatively affordable treatment that can not only relieve the symptoms of neurodegenerative diseases but also address the condition itself? The answer, as most physicians and specialists have found, is music.

How Does Music Help?

Now, of course, you might be thinking: how could something as simple as music treat the most complex organ in the human body? Well, the thing is, music isn’t simple. It consists of waves that trigger specific actions and memories in the brain. For instance, if you have Alzheimer’s and listen to your wedding song, it may prompt the brain to form new connections and neural links to recall that special day. The reason the brain does this is because it tries to correlate music to something familiar, slowing the effects of neurodegenerative diseases.

Moreover, music significantly helps with the mood changes associated with brain illnesses. Patients with neurodegenerative diseases often experience pain and the dysfunction of their brain cells, which can lead to rapid mood swings, similar to what teenagers experience (although their mood shifts can be more severe, depending on the condition). Calming or uplifting music, however, can help reduce stress and improve the patient’s state of depression or anxiety. 

Other benefits include enhancing social bonding, improving cognitive function (including verbal communication), and boosting motor skills (such as movement).

These therapies can be implemented in four main ways: compositional, improvisational, receptive, and recreative. While all four are intercorrelated, compositional therapy primarily focuses on music that allows patients to express emotions, improvisational therapy involves music that prompts an immediate response from patients, receptive therapy is used for therapeutic purposes through listening, and recreative therapy adapts existing music to meet specific needs.

So, What’s the Take?

While music is generally beneficial for neurodegenerative diseases, it’s important to note that it cannot undo the effects of illness. However, neither can medication, which is why both are used as tools to slow the deterioration of many patients’ health. Unfortunately, there is no clear-cut way to treat neurological diseases, and while some patients may experience miraculous recoveries, most rely on a combination of therapies, medications, and care to maintain their health and quality of life. So, maybe Spotify isn’t so bad after all.