TL;DR
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A 2025 update of a Cochrane review found music-based therapy probably improves depressive symptoms in people with dementia and may improve overall behavior. A small study also linked personalized playlists with greater immediate engagement. Music is not a dementia treatment, and some benefits may fade after sessions stop.
A 2025 update to a Cochrane review found that music-based therapy probably improves depressive symptoms in people with dementia and may improve overall behavior, while offering little evidence of longer-term change in cognition or agitation. The findings, alongside a small study of personalized playlists, point to music as a possible aid to mood and engagement—not a way to reverse or stop dementia.
The Cochrane review pooled results from 30 studies involving 1,720 people, most of whom were living in care homes. It concluded that music therapy probably helps reduce depressive symptoms and may improve overall behavior. The review found little evidence that it changes cognition or agitation over the longer term, and reported that effects may fade in the weeks after sessions end.
A separate study, published in Geriatrics & Gerontology International, involved 51 people with dementia attending adult day health centers. Researchers gave participants headphones with a personalized playlist for 20 minutes. Afterward, they observed increases in joy, eye contact, eye movement, engagement and talkativeness, and a decrease in sleeping. These were observed changes following a short session; the study does not establish that music produces lasting improvements.
Dr. Emily Ihara of George Mason University, the study’s lead author, said the results prompted her team to develop online training for direct-care workers in long-term care communities. The source report describes music as a way to support quality of life and connection, while stressing that it does not treat the underlying disease.
Music’s Role in Daily Dementia Care
The findings matter to families and care workers because music may offer a practical, personal way to support someone during ordinary care situations. A familiar song or playlist may help create a moment of comfort, attention or interaction, including when a person has difficulty communicating in other ways. The short-session study suggests that changes in engagement can be observed soon after listening, although it cannot show how long those changes last.
Being Patient’s report describes caregivers using familiar music during disruptions to routine, such as travel to an appointment, time in a waiting room or the period after a family video call ends. It also describes quiet favorite music before bed as a possible support for winding down. These examples are practical uses reported by caregivers, not proof that music reliably eases anxiety or improves sleep for everyone.
Keeping the evidence in perspective is important. The review supports potential benefits for depressive symptoms and behavior, but does not establish music as a treatment for dementia itself. Individual responses can differ, and the reported effects may depend on continued sessions. Music can complement care, but the source material does not suggest it replaces clinical or other support.
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Why Familiar Songs Can Connect
Concetta Tomaino, executive director and co-founder of the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function, described an early experience from her training in the 1970s. At a nursing home, she sang a familiar song to residents with advanced dementia who had seemed unresponsive. They joined in and sang the words, despite difficulties recognizing their surroundings or the people around them. Tomaino later spent decades studying music and neurological function, including 35 years working alongside neurologist Oliver Sacks.
Music engages several brain systems involved in sound, movement, memory, emotion and reward. Tomaino has proposed that musical attachments are embedded in deeper brain networks that may remain more robust as dementia progresses. That account offers a possible explanation for why a person may respond to a song even when they cannot name it or identify who is playing it. The report notes, however, that scientists do not have a complete explanation for music’s resilience in dementia.
The evidence spans different forms of music-based support. The 51-person study tested a brief, personalized listening session; the review combined 30 studies of music-based therapy. Those approaches and study settings are not identical, so their findings should not be treated as a single measure of what every person will experience.
““They not only came to life in the moment, but were able to sing the words.””
— Concetta Tomaino, music therapist and co-founder of the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function
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Limits of the Current Evidence
The review does not show that music changes the course of dementia. It found little evidence of longer-term effects on cognition or agitation, and reported that benefits may fade in the weeks after music sessions stop. The supplied report does not give detailed results for every study or establish which music approaches work best for particular people or stages of dementia.
The separate playlist study involved 51 participants and measured responses after a 20-minute session. Its findings do not answer whether the observed changes lasted, whether they would be similar in other care settings, or how often sessions would be needed. The report also does not provide a basis for predicting an individual person’s response. Tomaino’s explanation of brain networks is presented as a possible account; the underlying reason music can remain accessible is still not fully understood.
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Training and Longer-Term Research
Ihara said her team is developing online training for direct-care workers in long-term care communities, building on the personalized-playlist study. The source report does not give a launch date or further details about the training. Wider use of music-based support will depend on how care teams apply it and whether people respond positively.
For researchers, the outstanding questions include how long benefits last, what session frequency may be useful, and whether different approaches affect mood, behavior or engagement in different ways. The 2025 review’s findings support a measured role for music in dementia care, while leaving those questions open. Current evidence supports describing music as a possible aid to well-being and connection, rather than a disease-modifying therapy.
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Key Questions
Can music reverse or stop dementia?
No. The report says music cannot reverse or stop dementia. Evidence suggests it may support mood, behavior or engagement, but it is not a treatment for the underlying disease.
What did the 2025 review find?
The Cochrane review update pooled 30 studies and 1,720 participants. It found that music-based therapy probably improves depressive symptoms and may improve overall behavior, but found little evidence of longer-term effects on cognition or agitation.
Did personalized playlists help participants?
In a study of 51 people with dementia, researchers observed more joy, eye contact, eye movement, engagement and talkativeness after a 20-minute personalized playlist session, and less sleeping. The study measured immediate responses and does not establish lasting effects.
Why might a familiar song prompt a response?
Music engages brain systems linked to sound, movement, memory and emotion. Concetta Tomaino has suggested that musical memories may be held in deeper brain networks that can remain more robust as dementia progresses, but researchers do not have a complete explanation.
Can music help with everyday care routines?
Being Patient’s report describes caregivers using familiar music during travel, waiting periods and changes in routine, and playing quiet music before bed. These are reported uses, not guaranteed effects; responses can vary from person to person.
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