Music and meditation may protect you from memory loss

The memory loss seen with Alzheimer’s Disease is devastating. There have been intensive investigations into the possibility of preventing this from happening. Researchers now say the early loss of memory seen in adults who are at risk for Alzheimer’s Disease may be reversed with music and meditation.

Listening to music or the practice of simple meditation may be very beneficial for elderly people with preclinical loss of memory

According to a report in IOS Press a research group at West Virginia University lead by Dr. Kim Innes discovered that listening to music or the practice of simple meditation may be very beneficial for elderly people with preclinical loss of memory. In this study there were notable improvements in the subjective function of memory and objective cognitive performance 3 months after beginning music listening sessions or Kirtan Kriya meditation. The significant improvements seen in memory and cognition were maintained or improved even more at 6 months.

Improvements in mood, sleep, well-being and quality of life were also seen

Each group of intervention participants in this study also had improvements in mood, sleep, well-being and quality of life. These gains were most pronounced in the group which meditated. These dimensions of well being were also found to be sustained or improved further at 3 months.

The Journal of Alzheimer's Disease has published this study. It appears that mind-body interventions may offer promise for the prevention or slowing cognitive decline in people at risk. It has been suggested by this study that listening to music and Kirtan Kriya meditation may actually markedly enhance cognition and help reverse perceived memory loss while also improving sleep, mood and quality of sleep in at risk populations. So why not enjoy listening to music and meditating to potentially preserve good functioning of your brain.