Shop now open! Share your love of music and support Playlist for Life. Visit now.
Shop now open! Share your love of music and support Playlist for Life. Visit now.
Nick Balneaves 
Every place has its own musical identity, influenced by the local culture, history, and people. Think about home. Are there any songs that come to mind? Maybe it’s folk songs about working in shipyards, or ditties about living in the countryside. It could even be a lullaby about local legends, or tunes celebrating local holidays. … Read more
Research shows that we tend to favour the songs we carry with us from our Memory Bump. They evoke the strongest reactions in us, but they’re not the only ones to have such an effect. We also tend to favour songs from our parents’ and grandparents’ Memory Bumps, a phenomenon known as the ‘Cascading Memory … Read more
We all tend to lay down more memories between the ages of 10 and 30 than at other times in our lives. This is called the Memory Bump. ? We also recognise songs from this era more quickly than from other points in our lives. The Memory Bump is a period of our lives that is filled … Read more
Have you ever wondered how music is able to conjure memories of the people and places of your past? Why it can give you that flashback feeling? As we go through life, the music we love becomes neurologically intertwined with the most noteworthy people, places, and memories of our lives, forming a ‘neural tapestry’. This … Read more
If you brainscan someone listening to music, the screen lights up like a firework display as the music stimulates many parts of the brain at once. Music’s relationship with the brain is so special that there is a whole field of science dedicated to studying it. Recent research from the University of Utah shows that … Read more
Fiona was supported in curating a personal playlist for her father, who had lived with dementia. ‘I had read Sally Magnusson’s book “Where Memories Go” which led me to look into Playlist for Life. Like so many families, my siblings and I had watched our strong, independent dad slowly disappear as the grip of dementia robbed … Read more
Harry and Margaret were the first couple Playlist for Life worked with. Harry had severe dementia and lived in a care home. Margaret, his wife, came every day to see him and left most days in tears. Harry had stopped responding to her. See what happened when they started listening to his playlist together.
Sybil and Jim met in 1985 at a conference in America, and led an exciting life together filled with travelling and a love of gardening. When Jim was diagnosed with dementia, their lives were turned upside down with Sybil caring for them in their home. When Jim was taken into hospital for his dementia, Sybil … Read more
Gordon got in touch following a Music Detective Alert he had seen on Facebook. In his letter, he told us about a very interesting tune on his father-in-law’s playlist. Below is Bob’s story. https://www.playlistforlife.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Bob-singing-with-UPDATED-LOGO_FINAL.mp4 My father in Law, Bob Robertson, is 88 years of age, and he loves singing. Music was a big part of … Read more
Meet Pat and John. Pat has dementia and loves classical music. She sang in a choir for many years but now she can’t remember the names of the tunes she used to sing. John, her husband, struggled to help because he loves country music but isn’t a big fan of classical. It wasn’t until they … Read more
