Alzheimer's disease is a disease that affects 1 in 9 Americans (Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures, 2015). Alzheimer's disease is a type of dementia that causes patients to have difficulties remembering events or conversations that just occurred. Patients with both severe and lower end moderate stages of Alzheimer's disease have shown extensive physical and behavioral decline accompanied by forms of withdrawal and depression (Lancioni et al., 2013).
Studies done throughout the years have demonstrated that patients with Alzheimer's disease who participate in exercise show a positive impact on strength, balance, …show more content…
Through music, researchers are able to evoke emotions, which bring memories and bring emotional and physical closeness (Satoh et al., 2014). One study showed that patients with Alzheimer's disease, who listen to music, show improvements in memorization of lyrics and categorical word fluency. According to Thompson, Moulin, Hayre, and Jones (2005) exposure to music, in particular classical music, has been reported to produce an increase in cognitive performance. Cognitive functions are not the only thing improved by music, social effects such as agitation are also improved. The use of music has been suggested as one of the main intervention strategies for people in the severe stage (and possibly in the lower end of the moderate stage) of the disease to reduce behavioral disturbances and improve participation and mood (Lancioni et al., 2013). Another study also suggested that Alzheimer’s disease patients have benefited from music because it activates brain regions that less impaired in Alzheimer’s disease (Deason, Simmons-Stern, & Frustace, 2012). Most of the studies have suggested that music intervention can be a useful resource in programs for persons with moderate and severe Alzheimer’s disease, particularly for those with agitation (Lancioni et al., 2013).
There are not many studies that aim to improve cognitive and social effects in Alzheimer’s disease patients using both exercise and music. The present study investigates …show more content…
Nouchi et al (2014) used exercise training developed by Curves. This is the same exercise training that will be used in this study. The exercise training will combine three types of training: aerobic, strength, and stretching (Nouchi et al., 2014). These workouts will be supervised by trained exercise instructors. Three times a week, participants will complete two circuits of strength and aerobic exercises, which will be 24 mins long, then six minutes of whole-body stretching. The experimental group will complete this exercise training while listening to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, throughout each musical exercise training. This piece was chosen because this piece was shown to have the largest effect on cognitive performance (Thompson, Moulin, Hayre, & Jones, 2005). Before the start of the experiment, both groups will be tested using the MMSE. Another MMSE testing will take place after four weeks of exercise training and a final MMSE will be taken at the end of the eight week exercise training. Each score will be compared among the three different MMSE testing times. Then the scores will be compared between the experiment group and the control group. This should provide the evidence to support the aim of this study, that musical exercise training will improve cognitive and social effects in patients with Alzheimer's disease than exercise training