The beneficial effects of music on people with dementia and Alzheimer's disease have been studied for some time. Scientists believe these benefits are due to many of music's naturally healing properties, such as its ability to induce a feeling of nostalgia, reduce depression, and reduce anxiety.
Chloe Meineck has seen these effects firsthand during visits to her great-grandmother, but she wanted to do more to channel those positive memories for her grandmother. So she created the Music Memory Box, a product that uses technology and music to reduce stress in people with dementia.
The Music Memory Box's Kickstarter campaign states that the product will allow users to embed photos into the bottom of the box's lid. When lifting the lid, users should mark a handful of small, hand-held items that were personal to the recipient with the censors provided with the kit. The device can also be programmed so that interactions with each object trigger a song that is personal to the recipient.
Again and again, dance music in particular has proven to be strengths in improving the mood of its listeners, including in a recent study by Dr. Claire Howlin, a psychology researcher at University College Dublin, who found electronic music was capable of providing pain relief. .
However, the general health benefits associated with music naturally depend on the ability to resonate personally with certain songs. One example of this is that another study found that EDM is the best and the worst sleep aid at the same time.
The creators of Music Memory Box have exceeded their Kickstarter target so far, raising £ 27,174 in orders from 236 backers at the time of writing.
