Dementia affects around 46,8 millions of people around the world and Alzheimer Disease is the main cause of it. This devastating pathology takes away from you the most important treasure: your memories. You unlearn how to eat, how to dress, how to talk and even how to live. You become dependent. But if instead just medicines, music had an important healing power? In "Alive Inside", a Michael Bennett documentary, we saw the brilliant idea of Dan Cohen, a social worker, be successfully applied - listening music can renew dignity of those who have forgotten their own value. Released in 2014, this delightful film shows the reaction of Alzheimer's heroes and other dementias to listening to personalized music - they awake from a deep sleep and become alive again. It's joyful to see them dancing, singing and talk about it.Finally, we follow his fight in order that the highest number of nursing homes in the United States can adopt your therapy. Touching and inspiring, this movie teach us the sense of humanity, showing that difference can and should be done.

The discovery that music, when carefully selected for and played to individual dementia patents, can bring them out of their depressed stupor, and/or calm them down when agitated -- is simply profound.The documentary is very professional and does a fine job of illuminating this new and major movement throughout the "rest homes" of the world -- one which even eliminates the need for a rest home in some cases.If you were afraid to see yet another "depressing account" of the state of our elderly -- don't be! This is anything but depressing (for the most part) as it demonstrates what is possibly the greatest (and mostly hidden) wealth within each of our minds: music.Seems that a sense of and remembrance of music is one of the last things to go in our brains when we age. Not only is the music shown to be enjoyable by elderly, but, as shown succinctly in this film, the right music can unlock many other memories, leading to an obvious joy of heart.Watch it and be truly amazed, even crying with joy.

I watched this movie last night. The movie had a few very interesting components. One was the Steve Jobs shuffler device. This very tiny music recording and output device is like the modern day walkman. One can download music onto this device and then at the same time store it in a very easy way. It can store many songs on it. The songs are the thread that pulls the Dementia patient into a memory field and floods of emotion. This idea of using the Apple shuffler music device as a means of re-connecting Dementia patients to their past is a good idea. However - this movie did not show the pros and the cons to the shuffler device. For example, the cord of the headphones could be seen as a means to commit suicide - or choking. And are there not hundreds of methods to improve ones quality of life? Artwork, nature, animals, story-telling, sightseeing, watching movies, listening to the birds outside, fresh air, theatre productions, the list is endless. How can one make changes in the medical system in the United States of America - this is the real question - and the answer is impossibly hard. What would it take to improve the quality of life of sick patients? Would it take a mind-set shift - not only within the Medical America System - but all American Models. If the Pursuit of Happiness was turned upside down - to entail - "it is not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country" (JFK) would this create a more coherent balance of humanity - where senior citizens with Dementia - would receive respect versus being written off as sick and demented.

We need music. That's the message you are going to get from this documentary. And very few are as eye opening as "Alive inside" which takes us into the world of nursing homes in the US. It's easy to forget that there are millions of people living alone with no relatives to pay them a visit. We go on with our daily lives and spend more time talking to strangers on social medias than actually doing something for real people who are there and need us. The scary thing, it's that it might very likely be the way we end up ourselves: sat on a chair in a nursing home while contemplating yet again a plain wall for hours.What Dan (the protagonist of this documentary) sets to do is to show the power of alternative therapies for people with Dementia, or simply people who have forgotten all about their lives. And his soothing therapy couldn't be simpler: Music! That's right! nothing else. We see the residents of these nursing homes with broken spirits, unable to articulate a sentence, incapable of remember any details from the past. Surprisingly, the moment they are exposed to music, memories come back to them. A spark lightens up in their eyes, they even dance, and start talking more than they ever did. Music makes them cry, laugh, jump. As one of them says: "It makes me feel like I have a girl and I can hug her". How can music be so powerful? some bits are explained in the documentary, so I hope you will find the time to watch it. While it might not be the best edited piece of film making around, for the sake of its content, you should definitely give it go!