{"id":102335,"date":"2020-02-13T17:07:47","date_gmt":"2020-02-14T01:07:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2020\/02\/grateful-dead-drummers-quest-to-end-alzheimers"},"modified":"2020-02-13T17:07:47","modified_gmt":"2020-02-14T01:07:47","slug":"grateful-dead-drummers-quest-to-end-alzheimers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2020\/02\/grateful-dead-drummers-quest-to-end-alzheimers","title":{"rendered":"Grateful Dead Drummer\u2019s Quest to End Alzheimer\u2019s"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"aligncenter blog-photo\" href=\"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog.images\/grateful-dead-drummers-quest-to-end-alzheimers2.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Hart\u2019s demonstrations are entertainment for sure. But his message runs deeper: rhythm and vibration heal the brain. Dementia, he says, is the \u201closs of rhythm.\u201d And he, along with notables who collaborated on the event \u2014 University of California at San Francisco neuroscientist Adam Gazzaley and opera singer Ren\u00e9e Fleming (who lent her soprano to the event\u2019s musical track) \u2014 are all at work searching for pathways that can bypass obstacles to function and cognition. Hart has also worked with Dr. Connie Tomaino, who runs the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function, on music as a therapeutic tool for brain function.<\/p>\n<p>Gazzaley is currently conducting clinical trials with <a href='https:\/\/www.aarp.org\/health\/healthy-living\/'>healthy older adults<\/a> to show how a regular regimen of digital rhythm can enhance attention and memory in people with cognitive impairment. Hart has been working with Gazzaley on what will be a downloadable app, their goal to develop a game that challenges one\u2019s rhythmic ability, with the hope of building new <a href='https:\/\/www.aarp.org\/health\/conditions-treatments\/info-2018\/older-brains-grow-new-cells.html'>neuropathways<\/a> in the brain. \u201cWhat we\u2019re talking about here is a deeper and longer immersive experience which can actually harness the brain\u2019s plasticity to change the way it functions,\u201d says Gazzaley.<\/p>\n<p>Taking up an instrument as a child, and playing through adulthood is one proven way to protect one\u2019s brain. But learning later in life is helpful, too. Hart shares the story of his unlikely best friend, Walter Cronkite, who was 73 when he became a Deadhead, and also started playing the drums. In July of 2009, as Cronkite lay dying from complications of cerebrovascular disease, Hart handed him a hand drum. \u201cHe could no longer speak, but he could play,\u201d Hart says, tears in his eyes. \u201cHe used to ask, \u2018When we do we know we have found our groove?\u2019 Well, he found it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hart\u2019s demonstrations are entertainment for sure. But his message runs deeper: rhythm and vibration heal the brain. Dementia, he says, is the \u201closs of rhythm.\u201d And he, along with notables who collaborated on the event \u2014 University of California at San Francisco neuroscientist Adam Gazzaley and opera singer Ren\u00e9e Fleming (who lent her soprano to [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":542,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,42,47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biotech-medical","category-media-arts","category-neuroscience"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/542"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102335"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102335\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}