A Comparison of the Effects of Three Treatment Interventions on Cognitive Functioning of Alzheimer Patients

Abstract

Explored the effects of 3 treatment approaches on the cognitive functioning of Alzheimer's disease (AD) Ss: (a) musically cued reminiscence, (b) verbally cued reminiscence, and (c) music alone. The Ss were 12 female nursing home residents (aged 71–92 yrs) who suffered from AD. Changes in cognitive functioning were ascertained by the differences between pre- and postsession treatment scores on the Mini-Mental State Examination. Comparisons were made for total scores and subscores for orientation, attention, and language. Results show that musically cued and verbally cued reminiscence significantly increased language subsection scores, but not orientation or attention subscores, nor total scores. Musical activity alone significantly increased total scores. Pretreatment scores were not predictive as to which intervention would be most effective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)