BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

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Where Words Fail, Music Speaks

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Factual: Health & Wellbeing

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Where Words Fail, Music Speaks

Emer Maguire learns how music is being used to help people living with dementia.

Scientist and musician Emer Maguire learns how music and technology can help reduce anxiety for people living with dementia and those who care for them.

The author Hans Christian Anderson coined the phrase: "Where words fail, music speaks" and nowhere is this more true in than in the case of caring for people with dementia.

Scientist and musician Emer Maguire looks at the various ways in which music can be used to build bridges and establish connections between people with dementia and their carers.

She looks at the science behind music as a therapeutic tool and how the "memory bump" informs what music will be more likely to trigger memories. 

In the programme we'll see how technology is making easier for people with dementia to create personalized playlists of their favourite songs and how a dose of music can even reduce levels of medication.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra in October 2019.

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