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Amanda, Mamma Mia has just released here in Calcutta today. I hope to be able to take Prem to it in a couple of days. I am quite sure it will put a spring in his step too! Moneesha 2008/9/10 <[log in to unmask]> > I recently went to see the musical film "Mama Mia", came out humming > happily > and strode briskly the half-mile home - only remembered then that I only > walk > slowly with a stick & a limp. > I'd just done non-stop in 10 minutes a walk that had taken me 30 going out, > with 2 rests. > > Go on doctors, explain that ? > Where'd I get the dopamine? > Amanda. > > Quoting rayilynlee <[log in to unmask]>: > > > Hearing the music, healing the brain > > By Matthew Shulman > > U.S. News and World Report > > Article Last Updated: 09/07/2008 02:08:57 PM MDT > > > > Music therapy is helping patients regain abilities lost to Parkinson's, > > Alzheimer's and strokes. > > Rande Davis Gedaliah's 2003 diagnosis of Parkinson's disease was followed > by > > > > leg spasms, balance problems, difficulty walking, and ultimately a > serious > > fall in the shower. But something remarkable happened when the > 60-year-old > > public-speaking coach turned to an oldies station on her shower radio: > She > > could move her leg with ease, her balance improved and she couldn't stop > > dancing. Now, she puts on her iPod and pumps in Springsteen's "Born in > the > > U.S.A." when she wants to walk quickly; for a slower pace, Queen's "We > Are > > the Champions" does the trick. > > Music therapy has been practiced for decades as a way to treat > neurological > > conditions from Parkinson's to Alzheimer's to anxiety and depression. > Now, > > advances in neuroscience and brain imaging are revealing what's actually > > happening in the brain as patients listen to music or play instruments > and > > why the therapy works. > > "It's been substantiated only in the last year or two that music therapy > can > > > > help restore the loss of expressive language in patients with aphasia" > > following brain injury from stroke, says Oliver Sacks, the noted > neurologist > > > > and professor at Columbia University, who explored the link between music > > and the brain in his recent book "Musicophilia." Beyond improving > movement > > and speech, he says, music can trigger the release of mood-altering brain > > chemicals and once-lost memories and emotions. > > Humans born for the beat > > Parkinson's and stroke patients benefit, neurologists believe, because > the > > human brain is innately attuned to respond to highly rhythmic music; in > > fact, says Sacks, our nervous system is unique among mammals in its > > automatic tendency to go into foot-tapping mode. In Parkinson's patients > > with bradykinesia, or difficulty initiating movement, it's thought that > the > > music triggers networks of neurons to translate the cadence into > organized > > movement. > > "We see patients develop something like an auditory timing mechanism," > says > > Concetta Tomaino, cofounder of the Institute for Music and Neurologic > > Function in New York City. "Someone who is frozen can immediately release > > and begin walking. Or if they have balance problems, they can coordinate > > their steps to synchronize with the music," improving their gait and > stride. > > > > Slow rhythms can ease the muscle bursts and jerky motions of Parkinson's > > patients with involuntary tremors. > > Actually playing music, which requires coordinating muscle movements and > > developing an ear for timing, can also bring dramatic results, says Rick > > Bausman, a musician and the founder and director of the Martha's > > Vineyard-based Drum Workshop. > > The workshop uses traditional drum ensembles, in which groups of > > participants play percussion pieces, as one form of therapy for patients > > with a variety of cognitive and physical disabilities, including > Parkinson's > > > > disease. Bausman teaches participants to play along with traditional > > Afro-Caribbean beats like the Haitian kongo and Cuban bembe using congas, > > bongos and djun-djun drums. > > "Participants report that their control of physical movement improves > after > > playing the drums, their motion becomes more fluid, they don't shake > quite > > as much, and their tremors seem to calm down," says Bausman. > > Indeed, research on the effects of music therapy in Parkinson's patients > has > > > > found motor control to be better in those who participated in group music > > sessions - improvisation with pianos, drums, cymbals and xylophones - > than > > in people who underwent traditional physical therapy. But gains were no > > longer evident two months after the sessions ended, so the best results > > require continued therapy. To stay motivated, Tomaino recommends seeking > out > > > > both therapeutic drumming groups like Bausman's and social dance classes. > > Patients can also create music libraries for CDs or MP3 players that can > be > > used to help walking. > > Because the area of the brain that processes music overlaps with speech > > networks, neurologists have found that a technique called melodic > intonation > > > > therapy is effective at retraining patients to speak by transferring > > existing neuronal pathways or creating new ones. > > "Even after a stroke that damages the left side of the brain - the center > of > > > > speech - some patients can still sing complete lyrics to songs," says > > Tomaino. With repetition, the therapist can begin removing the music, > > allowing the patient to speak the song lyrics and eventually substitute > > regular phrases in their place. "As they try to recall words that have a > > similar contextual meaning to the lyrics, their word retrieval and speech > > improves," she says. > > The technique appears to activate areas on the right side of the brain, > > suggesting that these areas pick up the slack for the damaged left side, > > according to Gottfried Schlaug, a Harvard neurologist whose ongoing > research > > > > uses functional MRI scans to study language recovery in stroke patients. > > "It's startling to see these images," says Sacks; "one would not expect > to > > see such plasticity in the human adult brain." > > Dramatic recoveries > > Trevor Gibbons, 51, can vouch for the brain's flexibility. A patient at > Beth > > > > Abraham Rehabilitation Center in New York City, where Tomaino heads the > > music therapy program and where Sacks first began treating chronically > ill > > patients decades ago, Gibbons has been able to restore his speech after > > suffering a devastating spinal injury from a four-story fall and a stroke > in > > > > 2000. The former carpenter says that before he began vocal training and > > playing piano with music therapists at the clinic, he couldn't speak or > move > > > > and would lie for days in bed, depressed. > > After intensive sessions three times a week over several years, Gibbons > not > > only recovered his speech but also has written more than 400 songs, > recorded > > > > three CDs, and performed at a benefit fundraiser for Beth Abraham at New > > York's Lincoln Center. (Pre-stroke, says Gibbons, he sang only in his > church > > > > choir.) > > As Gibbons did, patients often report more positive moods following > > sessions. This may be because of an increase in the production of > > neurotransmitters like norepinephrine and melatonin, suggested a 1999 > study > > by researchers from the University of Miami School of Medicine. Several > > studies have shown calming music can lower blood pressure rates, and last > > year Spanish research showed listening to music before surgery decreased > > anxiety, heart rate and levels of the stress hormone cortisol as much as > the > > > > anti-anxiety drug diazepam. > > Stress and anxiety relief, in fact, may be one reason music can help > people > > with Alzheimer's and dementia uncover memories that seemed irrecoverable, > > experts say. Researchers reported in 2006 that enhanced memory recall > > accompanied significant reductions in anxiety when Alzheimer's patients > > listened to the "Spring Movement" from Vivaldi's "Four Seasons." > > Set at ease by familiar melodies, they may be more apt to communicate > too. > > Even people at advanced stages of the disease sometimes see improvements > in > > attention and alertness, sociability and overall functioning after music > > therapy. The reason, experts suspect, is that music stimulates areas deep > > within the amygdala and hippocampus, where emotion and long- term memory > are > > > > processed. Both are less prone to the effects of Alzheimer's than the > outer > > cortex, the hub for complex thought. > > Music played at a wedding, a religious service, favorite songs from > > childhood, or concerts from the teenage years or young adulthood can > serve > > as cues to recover memories, says Suzanne Hanser, founder of the music > > therapy department at the Berklee College of Music in Boston and a > > practicing therapist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. > > Not everyone will respond, and it may take several sessions to see any > > effect, says Hanser. She finds that simple stress-reduction techniques > such > > as facial massage or muscle-release exercises can often enhance the > music's > > magic. > > > > Rayilyn Brown > > Director AZNPF > > Arizona Chapter National Parkinson Foundation > > [log in to unmask] > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto: > [log in to unmask] > > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn > > > > > > > ---------------------------------------------- > This mail sent through http://www.ukonline.net > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto: > [log in to unmask] > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn