Working memory consisting of sensory informations from the external world combined with internal memories stored in the brain serves for deciding how to behave correctly in the daily life. In case of the demented people, however, sensory informations from the current external world participate poorly in working memory formation in which the role of the fragments of remote episodic memories becomes dominant. As a consequence of the paucity of the informations from the external world, behaviors of the demented people are often not suitable for the on-going circumstances. These unsuitable behaviors of the demented people are usually called as behavioral psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD). Music which directly activates emotional and physical activities in the human brain, is capable to reinforce the informations from the external world, and to contribute for the better working-memory formation.

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Generally, sound or music has been used to heal one’s mind for centuries. However, it can also cure mental and physical problems we may have, directly. In this paper, we will discuss what sound can practically do to the society, especially in the welfare and medical front. By showing the examples of the works we have done, we will explain the important aspects of sound; that it can evoke one’s imagination, and that it is the best tool to make the atmosphere of any space. We found that sound can help people in the hospital, for example, with giving relaxation during the treatment, with improving QOL of the workers related, or with facilitating the communication with patients, by maximizing the special features that only sound has.

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychological effects of music therapy in patients with dementia and their caregivers by using neuropsychological tests and interviews. Seventeen patients (7 who received music therapy and 10 who were untreated controls) and their caregivers (17 individuals) participated in our study. The patients in the music therapy group received music therapy for 6 months. The patients and their caregivers were administered neuropsychological tests and a questionnaire on care burden, respectively on the starting date and after 3 and 6 months of therapy. The numerical values of care burden were reduced only in the music therapy group (p=0.1) Thus, music therapy might be useful to reduce the caregiver’s burden of patients with dementia.

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Music therapy was provided to a patient in a minimally conscious state due to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) as a complement to conventional rehabilitation to augment residual brain function (40 minutes per session, 2-3 times per week). Four months after beginning music therapy, the patient could reproducibly strike a percussion instrument by a slight movement of the left hand. Furthermore, the patient could reproducibly choose a favorite song by responding to yes-or-no answers, and indicate the order of instruments played with eye movement. The patient showed improvement in the reproducibility and speed of responses necessary for expressing intentions. Eight months after starting the music therapy regimen, the patient could reproducibly push keys on a keyboard with the left hand and arm in an ascending and descending manner. As a result, the patient regained the ability to consistently express intent using the left upper limb. These results suggest that music therapy, as a method of rehabilitation in a patient with a minimally consciousness state after TBI, may have contributed to improvement of consciousness, as well as improvement in upper limb function to assist with expressing intentions.

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