{"id":930830,"date":"2026-10-17T00:12:24","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T00:12:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/930830\/"},"modified":"2026-10-17T00:12:24","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T00:12:24","slug":"two-sisters-performing-piano-to-dementia-patients-after-witnessing-positive-impact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/930830\/","title":{"rendered":"Two sisters performing piano to dementia patients after witnessing positive impact"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia can rob a person of their memories and communication skills.<\/p>\n

However, there is evidence that the ability to recognise music is retained by people with the condition, even as other cognitive abilities deteriorate.<\/p>\n

Two young sisters made this discovery, not through scientific research, but by chance.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

Min Luo, 12, and nine-year-old Fei Shan were playing piano for a family friend who has dementia when they noticed a change.<\/p>\n

“When we visited him, he would usually be a bit stressed.<\/p>\n

“But when we started playing, he would usually sit down, and sometimes he would tap his hand in time with the rhythm or hum along,” Min said.<\/p>\n

“And I think he really enjoyed that moment and I really treasure it as well.”\"Min,<\/p>\n

Min Luo plays to the audience at Korongee. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)<\/p>\n

The girls then decided they wanted to share the joy and peace music can bring with others who have the debilitating brain disease.<\/p>\n

“Music is like a language that mostly everyone can understand,” Fei said.<\/p>\n

They decided to visit aged care facilities and play for the residents.<\/p>\n

\"Min,<\/p>\n

The sisters look over their sheet music. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)<\/p>\n

‘It just makes you feel alive’<\/p>\n

At the Korongee Dementia Village, in Hobart’s northern suburbs, the girls are performing an afternoon concert.<\/p>\n

Some of the residents tap their feet in time with the music, while others nod along.<\/p>\n

\"Nick,<\/p>\n

Nick Dickens is a fan of the sisters and their performances. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)<\/p>\n

Resident Nick Dickens is in awe of Fei and Min’s musical skill.<\/p>\n

“Fantastic, absolutely, they’re really talented,” he said.<\/p>\n

“The old stress goes out the window \u2026 it just makes you feel alive,” he said.<\/p>\n

The 75-year-old has frontotemporal and vascular dementia, which has affected his mood and mobility rather than his memory.<\/p>\n

\"Mick,<\/p>\n

Nick Dickens (centre) enjoys the music from the girls, along with the other residents. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)<\/p>\n

Once a guitarist in a rock ‘n’ roll band, Mr Dickens said music was “everything” to him.<\/p>\n

“It brings back a lot of memories \u2026 and good feelings.”<\/p>\n

And he said the impact of Min and Fei’s concert on his fellow residents at the village was clear.<\/p>\n

“I’ve noticed here a lot of the ones with Alzheimer’s, they’re sort of in their own world most of the time, but they really respond to music.”<\/p>\n

The sisters plan to hold a concert to raise money for dementia research.<\/p>\n

\"Mature-aged<\/p>\n

The residents at Korongee pictured enjoying the music. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)<\/p>\n

A dopamine hit and a way to communicate<\/p>\n

People with Alzheimer’s disease can retain musical memory even when other forms of memory fade.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Fei,<\/p>\n

Fei Shan plays to the crowd. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)<\/p>\n

Associate Professor Alison Canty, from the Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre, said part of the brain responsible for musical memory is quite resilient to the progression of the disease.<\/p>\n

“We don’t get the same shrinkage or deterioration of the circuits in that region, and we don’t know why,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

Associate Professor Alison Canty says music releases dopamine, enhancing mood and reducing anxiety and stress.\u00a0 (Supplied: Wicking Dementia Research & Education Centre.)<\/p>\n

Associate Professor Canty said even people with the condition who have not spoken for some time may respond to a piece of music they recognise.<\/p>\n

“It’s kind of another way in, to start interacting and communicating with somebody who’s living with dementia,” she said.<\/p>\n

Music can also release the neurotransmitter dopamine.<\/p>\n

“It’s part of our reward system, and so flooding the brain with dopamine can enhance your mood; it can reduce anxiety, it can reduce stress,” Associate Professor Canty said.<\/p>\n

\"Opal<\/p>\n

There’s evidence that the ability to recognise music is retained by people with dementia. (ABC News: Laura Meachim)<\/p>\n

In 2025, dementia was named as the leading cause of death in Australia, and by 2065, almost 1.1 million people are predicted to have it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia can rob a person of their memories and communication skills. However,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":930831,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[10643,64,63,17317,9757,137,13095,136,33044,39080,497601],"class_list":["post-930830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-alzheimers","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-communication","tag-dementia","tag-health","tag-memory","tag-music","tag-piano","tag-therapy","tag-wicking-dementia-research-and-education-centre"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/930830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=930830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/930830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/930831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=930830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=930830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=930830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}