ALIVE INSIDE

 

The documentary Alive Inside: A Story of Music and Memory by Michael Rossato-Bennett is a beautiful, moving ode to the indefatigable, heroic work of Dan Cohen and his inspiration, that, just a little thing can produce a response nothing short of miraculous in breaking through the shell of withdrawal and total isolation in dementia and serious cognitive and behavioral disorder.

 

This film is a dramatic demonstration of how, in cognitive rehabilitation, recognizing the proper stimulus as well as the critical timing and context in which to present it, it’s the little things in life that we take for granted that are the most efficacious stimulants in the reawakening from the dark void of cognitive disintegration, opening up the road forward, step-by-step, into the light of renewed cognitive acuity and a reclaimed selfhood. This film dramatically illustrates how the enriched environment plays a key role in remediating profound cognitive dysfunction and serves as a vehicle of recovery from dementia and other serious cognitive and behavioral disorders. Depending on culture, situation and/or personal equation, music can be a powerful component of the enriched environment of Cognitive Neuroeducation (CNE).

 

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