Music therapy offers hope for Alzheimers, Parkinsons

Music might help people with cognitive impairment, including Alzheimers and Parkinsons disease, a study suggests.

Frank Russo, a cognitive scientist doing research at Ryerson University in Toronto, is using new technology to probe the link between sound and the parts of the brain that control movement.

Music therapy can help Parkinson's patients walk and people with Alzheimers remember, with song lyrics surfacing in the brain even among people who have lost the ability to recognize their own relatives.

Russo is hoping to develop a clearer picture of how music can rehabilitate damaged circuitryand hopes to apply that research to conditions ranging from autism to stroke.

CBC's Kim Brunhuber reports on how music therapy might grow as the population ages.