About

The Brain Science Behind Music

Rahul Bharadwaj, Ph.D. is section Head, Brain Processing and Neuropathology at the Lieber Institute for Brain Development at John Hopkins University and a Sage Stream advisor. Here he illustrates what happens in your brain when music is played.

Recent Studies:

  • National Poll on Healthy Aging – Music serves as a potent tool for fostering social connections, alleviating pain, and nurturing mental well-being. The study highlights a myriad of benefits associated with music for older adults, including stress relief (75%), joy (73%), enhanced mental health (65%), evoking memories (61%), and providing motivation and energy (60%).
  • NewsMedicalLifeSciences – A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), HES-SO Geneva and EPFL has discovered that practicing and listening to music can alter cognitive decline in healthy seniors by stimulating the production of grey matter.
  • AARP Article on Music and the Mind featuring the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function, of which Anthony Cirillo serves on the board.
  • CBC – Live music benefits long-term care home residents and workers.

See How One Artist Puts This In Action

My Mate George, Glenn Bassett, is a delightful artist from the UK and creator of Tea Time Tunes. Watch how he builds memory cues into his program. One example of how Sage Stream artists applies music therapy science through simple but effective techniques. 

Anthony Cirillo

Founder of Sage Stream

Anthony is a health, aging and caregiving expert. He is president of The Aging Experience and creator of the Caregiver Smile Summit and Sage Stream. He is a board member of the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function as well as a member of the Nationwide Financial / National Council on Aging Health and Wellness Roundtable and the Bank of America Elder Care Policy Roundtable.

Anthony speaks internationally, is a monthly contributor on The Charlotte Today program, a monthly contributor to Sixty and Me and US News and World Report, a former blogger for Huff Post 50, and the former about.com / VeryWell expert in Senior Care.

He previously served on the national board of Senior Net and is the former executive board member of the Dementia Action Alliance. In his home community he participates in Huntersville CARES, a dementia friendly community initiative, is an active Rotarian and is past board chairman of the Lake Norman Community Health Clinic.

A Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives with a Masters from the University of Pennsylvania, Anthony’s clients have ranged from the Cleveland Clinic, Unisys, and King Faisal Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Carolinas Health Care, Novant Health, Wall Street startups and many more.