'Singing for the brain': reflections on the human capacity for music arising from a pilot study of group singing with Alzheimer's patients.

Unlabelled: The paper reports the activities of a pilot study of group singing for people with Alzheimer's and their carers, and presents data arising from the study.

Aims: The project aimed to answer the following questions: Would people with Alzheimer's be able to participate in group singing? Would progress be identifiable in participants' singing? Would responses to the activity be positive? Would participating carers find the activity worthwhile? Additionally, the following question was posed: Within the supportive environment of group singing, might people with Alzheimer's be able to participate in a song that they had to learn?

Methods: Songs were selected that would be familiar to participants aged over 40 years, and one original song was introduced by the group leader following a successful session. The group leader did not know which of the participants were patients with Alzheimer's and which were carers.