Insights and information
about music, brain health, aging, and much more.
The Benefits of Gratitude
I hadn’t thought about Dr. Robert Emmons in a long time, but a few weeks ago, a New York Times article referred to a psychology colleague who is doing some fascinating research on the topic of gratitude. Emmons, a social psychologist at the University of...
Preventing Dementia
Jonathan and I were recently in a meeting with the chairpersons of the departments of Neurology from both the University of Chicago and Northwestern medical centers. We were struck by the fact that, although they mentioned a future for medication, both of their...
Classic Rock: A Primer for the Ages
If you’ve ever driven across the country without any means of curating your own playlist, you’ve undoubtedly turned on the radio to stifle the monotony of the wheels-on-asphalt roar. In between the static and proselytizing evangelists of every religious and political...
Purpose in Life
In an undergraduate Psychology class, I read a little book by Victor Frankl entitled, Man’s Search for Meaning. It’s one of those books that had an impact on me at the time, and an even greater impact on my work as a clinical psychologist. The author was an Austrian...
Good Memories—The First Five Weeks
It’s the beginning of October 2018. We’ve now held five rehearsals of the Good Memories choir. As many of you know, Good Memories is our new choral program for people with early-stage memory loss and their care partners, singing together in a choir along with a...
My Hearing Aid
Chapter 1: The Finger Rustle Last December, for some reason I can’t recall now, I rustled my fingers together with my right hand, near my right ear. I heard what I expected to hear: a high-pitched rustling sound, sort of like someone shushing me or saying...