In designing games for Alzheimer's patients, we happened across a book that places great importance on music and musical cues in activities for Alzheimer's patients.

We read 'Failure-free activities for the Alzheimer's patient'

The book that we read was Failure-free activities for the Alzheimer's patient : a guidebook for caregivers
by Sheridan, Carmel. It offers several simple games that can be played with Alzheimer's patients. Of especial notice for us was that the book explains the constructs of a good Alzheimer's game. It explained what elements make an enjoyable and productive game for an Alzheimer's patient.

Music in Alzheimer's Games

One of the major elements of a good Alzheimer's game presented by Sheridan was that of involving music, or musical cues. Specifically, music that evokes a memory or allows the player to reminisce in his or her past adds a lot of potentability to an Alzheimer's game. While participating in the game, the player can subconsciously recall memories that may be associated with the music. This effects in the game being more enjoyable for the player, as well as in an unexpected bonus of exercising the memory portion of the brain!. Music should be chosen specially from the patient's past. So for a patient who has grown up in the fifties in America, Elvis might be a good choice. If the patient has grown up in a different country, music from that country would work well.