Treating dementia with music trumpeted

Treating and preventing dementia with music can be effective because people age 90 or older do not forget songs from their childhood even if they become senile, according to many experts.</PARAGRAPH> <PHOTO> <TABLE WIDTH='200' ALIGN='RIGHT' BORDER='0'> <TR> <TD><IMG ALT='News photo' BORDER='0' SRC='/images/photos2005/nn20051201f4a.jpg' WIDTH='200' HEIGHT='139'/></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><FONT SIZE='1'><B>Tatsuhiko Akaboshi –

, chairman of the Tokyo Music Volunteer Association, encourages elderly people to sing and clap to the music as part of therapy to combat senile dementia. PHOTO COURTESY OF TATSUHIKO AKABOSHI/KYODO

"I am shortly going to publish a book collecting 100 songs for each generation I have surveyed across Japan," said Tatsuhiko Akaboshi, chairman of the Tokyo Music Volunteer Association. He has been treating elderly people with music for nearly 40 years.