Music is powerful, we all know that — but it may be more powerful than we’ve previously realized. As a new study reveals, our favorite music memories are enough to resist Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Whenever we hear a song that we’re particularly into, our brain goes through a process called Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR), which basically feels like a tingling sensation. It’s almost orgasmic — a natural buzz us music lovers get when a song inspires something within us. If you’re on our website reading this, chances are you’ve felt this and know exactly what we’re talking about.
So, ASMR actually catalogs that music in a special way. According to The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease, those confusing and heartbreaking affects of Alzheimer’s may for a short time subside when those affected hear their favorite music from the past. Researchers have seen this haze in Alzheimer’s patients subside, and now there’s some proper research backing the ASMR phenomenon. 
Contributor to the study, Jeff Anderson, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor in Radiology at the Univerity of Utah Health, says: “In our society, the diagnoses of dementia are snowballing and are taxing resources to the max. No one says playing music will be a cure for Alzheimer’s disease, but it might make the symptoms more manageable, decrease the cost of care and improve a patient’s quality of life.”
H/T: EurekAlert!
