Word: smithing
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...Organizing this unlikely choir is Chreanne Montgomery-Smith, who runs support groups for the Newbury branch of Britain's Alzheimer's Society. On cue, the 40 or so Alzheimer's and dementia patients join hands and begin singing in unison - a tentative rendition of Amazing Grace. They remember most of the words and their chorus fills the hall. Montgomery-Smith is certain that the music helps bring her patients' thoughts - ravaged by dissonance and dislocation - into harmony. (Read how secondhand smoke has been linked to dementia...
...they become lucid when they sing," says Montgomery-Smith, who has witnessed improvements in sociability and communication during her musical meetings. "The research isn't there to support it at the moment but I'm confident these sessions will one day be shown to slow the progression of Alzheimer's. The benefit [of singing] as a hidden cognitive rehabilitation is evident. You can't keep a good idea down forever...
...though, Montgomery-Smith has been asked by the Alzheimer's Society not to describe this activity - called Singing for the Brain - as "treatment." The scientific data doesn't even support the term "therapeutic." But there are few other dementia therapies that the evidence can validate - currently only two types of drugs have received government approval in the U.S. to slow the progression of Alzheimer's, but both offer only limited benefits - and many caregivers, desperate to better the lives of their patients, resort to such low-tech, behavior-based solutions as singing. (Read "Ginko Biloba Does Not Prevent Alzheimer...
...Alzheimer's Society's Montgomery-Smith thinks singing sessions may work similarly, by dredging up distant memories associated with the music and stimulating memory-retrieval mechanisms in the brain. But many other Alzheimer's activists warn that putting too much hope in claims of so-called "hidden cognitive rehabilitation" will only distract from the urgent need to find a cure. "There are so many things that you can't overcome with Alzheimer's - we can't get too excited by these low-tech treatments. They can help patient care but they will never deliver a solution," says Susanne Sorensen, head...
...would be a great addition to our program.” Ayogu said the event “is a chance to celebrate the cultural diversity of Harvard and share it with the rest of the campus.” Past Cultural Rhythms Artists of the Year include Will Smith, Matt Damon, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, and Jackie Chan. Proceeds from the show will go the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Tickets for Cultural Rhythms are available at the Harvard Box Office in the Holyoke Center. Cultural Rhythms representatives expressed their excitement for Aykroyd?...