
The musical side of my dad's dementia - noncoml
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20171213-the-musical-side-of-my-dads-dementia
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rev_null
My grandfather started playing piano at the age of four. He taught music as an
adult.

In the last years of his Alzheimer's, he didn't know who I was and could
barely remember conversations we'd had 5 minutes prior.

But, if you put him in front of a piano, he could play songs for hours.

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RickJWag
Amazing, and interesting.

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YeGoblynQueenne
I've heard before of how people with dementia will sing the songs of their
youth. And I have wondered, when I'm old, if my mind goes, will I too start
singing the sweet notes of Blood, Fire, Death; Equimanthorn; Zombie Ritual;
Mutilation; Hammer Smashed Face; Skullfull of Maggots; and the like? Will I
walk around the corridors of whatever care home I end up in, belting out Tom
Araya's blood-curdling screams at the beginning of Angel of Death, like I
loved to do as a teenager?

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wu-ikkyu
Anyone interested in this should watch Alive Inside: A Story of Music and
Memory.[1]

Here[2] is an astonishing excerpt from the film where an unresponsive old man
is given a pair of earbuds playing music from his era. The effects are
profound.

[1][http://www.aliveinside.us](http://www.aliveinside.us)

[2][https://youtu.be/NKDXuCE7LeQ](https://youtu.be/NKDXuCE7LeQ)

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JoeDaDude
This article is also reminiscent of the case of Clive Wearing [1], who lost
his memory to disease. His short term memory was reduced to seconds, and yet
he remembers music he once played and conducted.

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymEn_YxZqZw&index=2&list=PLA...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymEn_YxZqZw&index=2&list=PLA84D07CA0BFC4356)

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Giorgi
This is really weird. My granny died several weeks ago from dementia and she
somehow managed to memorize really old song from TV. Even just before death
she tried to sing several notes... it was really amusing. Reading this article
is exactly what was going on. So... weird timing for me I guess.

