Memory is a vital aspect of identity; it allows individuals to have an enriched understanding of themselves and the people most important to them. The most common form of dementia, Alzheimer's disease, is characterized by progressive damage to brain cells. The memory loss caused by this degenerative disease causes affected individuals to lose an aspect of their identity. Therefore, I have an inherent interest in how any aspect of memory can be preserved in patients with Alzheimer's disease in hopes of improving their quality of life. Recent research advances have highlighted the possible sparing of musical memory in Alzheimer's disease, whereby patients remember and sing songs they have heard in the past. Wilder Penfield (1963) was the first theorist to give impetus to research on musical memory when he studied the possibility that the temporal cortex had the role of encoding musical memory. Subsequently, the neural bases of musical memory were widely studied, although only later was the correlation between Alzheimer's disease and the possible saving of musical memory studied. Severine Samson has become a leading researcher in this field, as she theorized that musical memory might be intact in patients with Alzheimer's disease because the affected brain regions might be spared from severe damage (Baird & Samson, 2009). Samson also highlighted the difference between implicit and explicit forms of musical memory in a study in which individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease were able to learn to sing a new song in eight different sessions, although they did not remember the sessions themselves: highlighting the probability that only implicit musical memory is spared in Alzheimer's disease (Samson, Baird, Moussard & Clément, 2012). Susan Koger's (Brotons & Koger, 2000; Koger, Chapin & Brotons, 1999) research on the positive effects of music on mood, language and memory in individuals with dementia has enabled a broader understanding of the impact that music has on improving the quality of life. life for people suffering from diseases that affect memory. Preservation of musical memory in dementia, with a focus on Alzheimer's disease, will be discussed below in detail, referring to three key studies that highlight and underline the positive impacts that music has on the debilitating disease. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayCuddy and Duffin (2005) conducted a case study that aimed to investigate whether musical memory is spared in dementia patients. The reason the study was conducted was due to the inconsistency between the large body of research on musical memory and brain damage, compared to the few investigations into the possible sparing of musical memory in patients with dementia. This logic was prevalent, as research often avoids directly studying dementia patients due to the progressive nature of the disease coupled with the obvious problem of standard research methods not being applicable, due to the patient commonly being unable to remember the instructions. The research question stemmed from logic and asked whether the ability to remember previously familiar music was affected in an individual diagnosed with dementia. A case study was used focusing on an individual, EN, who had previously been diagnosed with dementia possibly of the Alzheimer type. The patient had a history of deep devotion to listening to music and was considered an amateur pianist, and theAnecdotal evidence from EN's caregivers indicates that his ability to remember familiar music was intact. Three tests of music perception from previous literature were adapted to formulate the data needed to test the hypothesis. First, the familiarity decision test was conducted, in which ten familiar and ten unfamiliar songs were played. EN did not respond to those familiar resinon, and was only missing one familiar melody which was of French origin and as she was born and raised in England it is likely that she has not previously been exposed to this. Compared to control data, EN scores are indicative of normal musical memory functioning. Secondly, the distorted melodies test was conducted in which twenty-six popular melodies were played, but seventeen of these were altered in pitch. ENs responded to the distorted melodies by frowning or laughing. Her score of twenty-five out of twenty-six considers her to have a functioning musical memory. Finally, there was the Famous Melodies test in which EN was asked to indicate the level of familiarity and the name of each song. EN scored just below average on this test, although the results may be confounded by song choice as this test was developed for a Canadian sample, so they may not have been exposed to all the music. These findings support the research hypothesis that EN would display normally functioning musical memory despite his diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. The data analysis was clearly related to the results and made sense compared to what I had previously experienced. My great-grandmother who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease showed a consistent musical memory, often humming and singing songs she had learned before her memory began to deteriorate. Therefore, this study was particularly interesting to me as a theoretically quantitative research approach was applied to what I had only witnessed anecdotally. The results were presented consistently in competent language and the use of three different tests allowed a wide range of data to be collected. Because this research comes from a case study, questions about whether EN findings are typical or an exception make generalization of findings difficult, as do inconsistencies with music choice. However, overall this case study provided great insight into the possibility of a positive correlation for musical memory sparing in Alzheimer's disease. Dassa and Amir (2014) conducted an observational study that aimed to explore the role of music in encouraging conversation among individuals diagnosed with mid-to-late-stage Alzheimer's disease. The interest in researching the correlation between these two variables arises from the researcher's personal experience with people diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease who have lost the ability to speak due to cognitive decline. Yet, after a music therapy session these people responded verbally to the music. The research questions that guided the data collection focused on what the participants discussed in the sessions and what the connection is between the conversation and the chosen musical choice. The six participants were randomly selected among residents of an Israeli nursing home, which was a limitation for population generalizability as the sample size was small. Qualitative data was collected from eight sessions in which the therapist sang and encouraged participants to participate, and open-ended questions were asked after each song to facilitate conversation. Thesongs sung were of Israeli origin released when participants were teenagers; this ensured that most of the songs were familiar to the participants. The participants' responses and behavior within the session were noted by the researcher, who also posed as a music therapist. This represented another limitation of the study due to possible author bias as existing knowledge about Alzheimer's disease may have interfered with the collection of subjective data. However, a peer review of the data analysis was undertaken to attempt to control for this. Overall, the study concluded that singing familiar songs encouraged conversation among individuals with mid-to-late-stage Alzheimer's disease, and that participants' concentration and engagement were promising as the disease often inhibits the ability to hold and follow a conversation. As someone who has had a family member affected by this disease, the study was enjoyable to read and related to my experience. There were days when my great-grandmother would be distressed and sit in silence, and we always knew that singing one of her favorite songs would make her tap her foot and she would slowly start commenting on the tune. This research offers promising insight into the positive effects of music on patients with Alzheimer's disease and recommendations for future research perhaps focused on studying the role of singing in all stages of the disease rather than from intermediate to advanced, as well as examining of the emotional impact. that music has and how it affects conversation patterns. Using an alternative approach to previously analyzed studies, Jacobsen et al. (2015) studied neural areas typically thought to be involved in musical memory in people with probable Alzheimer's disease using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The rationale behind conducting this study was due to the lack of objective data collected on this topic, which for me was prevalent since most research investigating Alzheimer's disease and musical memory is presented in the form of observational data that are based on case studies. The study consisted of two experiments that followed the same procedure, although the difference was that the first experiment had a sample of thirty-two healthy participants, while the second experiment included thirty-four healthy participants and twenty subjects hypothesized to have Alzheimer's disease. : This was a limitation of the study, as the participants were not patients who had been diagnosed with the disease. Participants in both experiments were exposed to three different conditions: the first listened to unknown music, the second listened to recently known music and the last listened to long-known music. fMRI measured neural activity while the three conditions were conducted. The results supported the research hypothesis, finding that regions typically involved in encoding musical memory are well preserved in Alzheimer's disease until very advanced stages. This study has provided good insight into the neural substrates behind the possible sparing of musical memory in Alzheimer's disease and solidifies the need for more objective research in this field rather than relying on case studies. The use of language during the study was effective, although as a reader the reason for conducting two separate experiments with the same method was not entirely clear. The sample size was still small, although it provided better insight into generalization than a case study..