The research of IMPACT Multiple Principal Investigator  Vince Mor, PhD and member Ellen McCreedy, PhD, MPH is featured in a National Institutes of Health (NIH) blog post on the effects of music and Alzheimer’s disease. The Blog titled, “Could ‘musical medicine’ influence healthy aging?” highlights the Music and MEmory: A Pragmatic TRIal for Nursing Home Residents with ALzheimer’s Disease (METRIcAL) project.

Led by Mor and McCreedy, the METRIcAL study explored whether customized playlists of preferred music could reduce common dementia symptoms. Disruptive or disturbing symptoms like pacing, calling out verbally, or sundowning, a phenomenon where people with Alzheimer’s disease experience restlessness, agitation, irritability, or confusion in the late afternoon and early evening, were measured during the study in hopes to alleviate symptoms, and lessen reliance on antipsychotic drugs.

Read the NIH blog post.