Alive Inside: A Story of Music and Memory

I am deeply moved by this documentary. It is really very fascinating to watch how the Alzheimer patients who don't even remember their names responded to music, particularly the music they loved in their early days.The scientific reasons behind this is also described properly. Aging is an inevitable phenomenon of life. It is us who should decide how we take care of aged population. In India the way is far more different than USA. Here usually old people, who are suffering from dementia are not sent to a nursing home. Home care is given and they remain in the family. But after watching this documentary I have realized the picture is quite different in America.Parting a old human from his/her familiar world is gonna worsen their disease(but there may be some obligatory factors in the family I am overlooking those).If music therapy seems to help them then it should be started on a large scale. Dan Cohen is doing a great job by helping these people(not patient) and government should help him to achieve his goal. A must watch.

"Alive Inside" is the work of director/writer Michael Rossato-Bennett and Dan Cohen, who is the founder of the nonprofit organization Music & Memory. Cohen goes into nursing homes and sets patients up with ipods and earphones, and plays the patient's favorite music. This is sometimes learned from the family, sometimes from the patient, sometimes it's an educated guess.

The transformation in these patients is, I guarantee you, one of the most remarkable things you will ever see. It is pointed out that there is no medicine that can do this for these people, that they are overmedicated, and that the U.S. can save literally billions and billions of dollars by introducing this program into nursing homes. And it keeps elders out of those same nursing homes and with their families.

The music awakens memories in the person, it socializes them in a way they haven't been before, it calms them, it brings a smile to their faces. People who were sitting slumped over in a wheelchair not only begin to sing but dance. Truly remarkable.

The film shows one woman who has been cared by her husband for ten years without medication by playing her music for her.

I have never seen anything like this documentary, and it has really caught on with the public. A youtube video of one patient, Henry, went completely viral; the states of Wisconsin and Utah are adopting the program into all of their nursing homes, and the list of nursing homes incorporating Cohen's program is growing daily.

What Music & Memory needs now are donations, headphones, and ipods. These are always a need, though I suspect once this documentary is released he will have much more support -- but he will also have a lot more interested nursing homes and people.

The idea is to not throw away our elderly, but to involve the younger generation so that they can receive the gifts these wonderful people have to offer.

Alive Inside is opening nationwide but only in some major cities. Hopefully this will be on demand on cable, and the DVD itself is going to become available. I urge you not to miss this incredible documentary. It will be a life-changing experience not only for you but for your loved ones.

Dementia affects around 46,8 millions of people around the world and Alzheimer Disease is the main cause of it. This devastating pathology takes away from you the most important treasure: your memories. You unlearn how to eat, how to dress, how to talk and even how to live. You become dependent. But if instead just medicines, music had an important healing power? In "Alive Inside", a Michael Bennett documentary, we saw the brilliant idea of Dan Cohen, a social worker, be successfully applied - listening music can renew dignity of those who have forgotten their own value. Released in 2014, this delightful film shows the reaction of Alzheimer's heroes and other dementias to listening to personalized music - they awake from a deep sleep and become alive again. It's joyful to see them dancing, singing and talk about it.

Finally, we follow his fight in order that the highest number of nursing homes in the United States can adopt your therapy. Touching and inspiring, this movie teach us the sense of humanity, showing that difference can and should be done.

The discovery that music, when carefully selected for and played to individual dementia patents, can bring them out of their depressed stupor, and/or calm them down when agitated -- is simply profound.

The documentary is very professional and does a fine job of illuminating this new and major movement throughout the "rest homes" of the world -- one which even eliminates the need for a rest home in some cases.

If you were afraid to see yet another "depressing account" of the state of our elderly -- don't be! This is anything but depressing (for the most part) as it demonstrates what is possibly the greatest (and mostly hidden) wealth within each of our minds: music.

Seems that a sense of and remembrance of music is one of the last things to go in our brains when we age. Not only is the music shown to be enjoyable by elderly, but, as shown succinctly in this film, the right music can unlock many other memories, leading to an obvious joy of heart.

Watch it and be truly amazed, even crying with joy.

I saw the trailer for the film on YouTube. As I'm just beginning a new career in aged care, I've been inspired to use music with residents - recorded music, singing to them*, and involving them in community singalongs. While my experience has been brief so far, I have seen in some residents the transformation which music gives (though nowhere near as dramatic as Henry in the clip).

*I'm not much of a singer, but that doesn't make a difference if I can find the right songs.

Inspired by the clip, I bought the DVD.

It was one of the most positive films I've seen for a long time. It brought tears to the eyes seeing some of the transformation brought about by music. It was wonderful, seeing a way that some joy can be brought back to some people.

I know that a film like that will only show the most positive stories, and I've seen first hand that many more people will not have the reactions shown.

But there has been enough of a transformation in some of the stories shown to continue to inspire me to look for opportunities to give just a little bit of joy to some people.

Thank you so much to the filmmakers and storymakers for showing the possibilities.