Baycrest

YOUNG RESEARCHER TAKES HOME A GRAMMY It may not have been for country music, but a 27-year-old Baycrest researcher is still very happy with his Grammy. Dr. Gavin Bidelman, a postdoctoral fellow who studies the impact of musical training on the brain, received a GRAMMY Foundation® grant for helping to advance innovations in aging through the power of music. He shares the recognition with RRI senior scientists Drs. Claude Alain and Sylvain Moreno. The GRAMMY Foundation works in partnership with The Recording Academy® and impact of music and arts education. The grant will support Dr. Bidelman's investigation into the potential benefits of music on speech processing in older adults. "We are particularly interested in how musical training might tune the brain and help counteract some of the negative declines in speech perception that commonly emerge later in life." WATCH Baycrest is at the forefront of an emerging field in music and health research. The Centre is involved in several music research projects and is part of a new Music and Health Research Collaboratory with Ontario universities and Toronto hospitals, to be based at the University of Toronto. DONORS SUPPORT SINGING FOR JOY – AND HEALTH Does singing in a group have a positive impact on health and wellness in older adults? A 16-week study recently conducted at the Baycrest Community Day Centre for Seniors with seniors with normal brain func- tion and mild cognitive impairment found that being in a glee club was a positive and enjoyable experience and helped them make friends. Primary investigator Dr. Amy Clements-Cortes, senior music therapist/ practice advisor, says the study yielded five large themes that emerged from the data including: friendship and companionship; simplicity; happiness, uplifting and positive feelings; relaxing and reduced anxiety; and fun. The study, and Buddy's Glee Club itself, were made possible through a generous gift from Baycrest supporter Margie Nightingale, a proponent of the healing benefits of music who wanted to honour her husband's memory in a meaningful way. "Buddy had a stroke in 2001 and had diminished use of his right side but he could sit at the piano and play and sing," she explains. She credits his eventual recovery to his love of music. Phase two of the study is expected to start this summer with residents of the Apotex Centre, Jewish Home for the Aged. 2011/12 Baycrest and Baycrest Foundation Annual Report 19 to bring attention to the value MUSIC-RELATED PROJECTS AT BAYCREST: • Science associate Dr. Takano Fujioka and senior scientists Drs. Bernhard Ross and Deirdre Dawson are inves- tigating the use of musical training (drum and keyboard playing) to help people who have suffered a stroke regain the use of their upper limbs. • Dr. Fujioka and Dr. Laurel Trainor (McMaster University, adjunct scien- tist with the RRI) are examining brain development and plasticity associ- ated with musical rhythm processing and auditory-motor coupling. • Senior scientist Dr. Sylvain Moreno has developed a music-based, computer game that boosts verbal IQ in young children after 20 days of classroom training.

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