APRIL 29 • 2021 | 31

ation and focus. It can even 
steady heart rate and breath-
ing, both of which help keep 
people calm during stressful 
situations. While music carried 
Laura through dementia, oth-
ers benefit in different ways.

MUSIC AND MOBILITY
In Parkinson’s disease, for 
example, music has been 
found to support and preserve 
functional mobility, which is 
directly attacked by the illness. 
For those with aphasia, a loss 
or impairment of language 
through brain injury such as 
a stroke, it’s not uncommon 
for people to be able to sing, 
even though they might not be 
able to speak. This is because 
processing of speech and song 
occur in different areas of the 
brain, so when the words don’t 
come, music can take their 
place.
Yet it’s not just music alone 
that can benefit people who 
have neurological diseases 
— singing, dancing, playing, 
listening to and composing 
music all have the same posi-
tive power. Even though Laura 
had a walker and often needed 
support in moving, she would 
find every reason to dance. 
Whether she attended a live 
musical performance with the 
help of her son Daryn and his 
wife, Susan Davis-Kienscherf, 
or she was resting at home, 
Laura was constantly moving. 
She would dance in her chair 
and enjoyed listening to music 
anywhere she could.
Even when her mother-in-
law needed to be moved from 
her chair to her bed, Susan 
recalls those brief 20 seconds 
when Laura’s feet would hit 
the floor. “She would do a 
little bit of dancing,
” she says. 
Ironically, Daryn says his 
mother was never much of a 
singer — just a dancer — but 

she began to sing after she 
developed dementia. It wasn’t 
always a song she was hearing, 
but if Laura sang, regardless of 
the tune, a smile would spread 
across her face.
Laura was a regular attend-
ee of the Dorothy and Peter 
Brown Jewish Community 
Adult Day Program, a part-
nership between Jewish Senior 
Life and JVS Human Services 
that supports Jewish individ-
uals living with dementia and 
their families.
 In fact, she was such a reg-
ular that Laura had her own 
area with a red velvet rope 
where she could dance, Daryn 
recalls. Because music was a 
key element of the program, 
Laura found solace and con-
nection as soon as the tunes 
hit.
Julie Verriest, manager of 
senior adult services at JVS 
and a licensed music therapist, 
says music promotes many 
parts of the brain to interact. 
“It’s a great way to build neural 
connections and helps people 
maintain the skills that they 
have,
” she explains. “Research 
has shown that music decreas-
es agitation, helps people 
maintain language skills and 
increases social interaction.
”

A MOOD BOOSTER
For individuals with neuro-
logical illness, which can be 
isolating and lonely, music is a 
way to reconnect with the past 
and to also form connections 
in the present. Plus, it’s a prov-
en mood-booster. “Just listen-
ing to music can be relaxing,
” 
Verriest says. “Singing also 
increases the oxygen to your 
brain and throughout your 
body.
”
Verriest witnessed firsthand 
how powerful music was for 
Laura — and many others in 
the Jewish community — who 

participated in the program, 
particularly in music sessions, 
which included live perfor-
mances and chair exercises. 
“Dancing was a joy for Laura,
” 
Verriest recalls. “It was helping 
keep her body in shape and it 
was such an important part of 
her identity.
”
For Laura, who met her 
husband, Gary Kienscherf, a 
German man who didn’t speak 
English at the time, while 
dancing together, music could 
transport her to her most cher-
ished moments in life. Even 
through her very last days, 
Laura continued to respond 
to concerts held at the Brown 
Program by local musician and 
songwriter Michael Krieger. 
Her son Daryn noted that they 
were one of the only things 
she would respond to as she 
declined from dementia.
When the Brown Program 
closed last March due to 
COVID-19, the speed of 
Laura’s decline increased 
sharply. To her family, it was 
a clear sign how much music 
and the program were vital in 
slowing the speed of her brain 
change. “Music was cathartic 
for her when she was having 
bad moments,
” Daryn says. 
She was even nicknamed 
“Dancing Laura” because of 
her passion for it.
“I just think the more your 
brain is stimulated through 
music, the more it starts to 
improve other areas,
” Verriest 
says. “
As the brain changes 
during dementia, some parts 
stay intact longer than others. 
Long-term memories, for 
instance, stay intact longer 
than short-term memories.
”
Music, she explains, often 
falls into long-term memo-
ries. “If it’s used intentionally,
” 
Verriest says, “music can really 
help maintain the parts of the 
brain that are intact.
” 

Attorney General 
Nessel in JFS 
Program May 20

Legal Referral 
Service, a program 
of Jewish Family 
Service will wel-
come Michigan 
Attorney General 
Dana Nessel to a 
program on “The 
People’s Attorney,” 
which will discuss her role in 
today’s world.
The program, sponsored 
by the Oakland County Bar 
Foundation, takes place on 
Zoom 6 p.m. Thursday, May 
20, and is free of charge. To 
register, visit jfsdetroit.org/
LRS or contact Emily Croitori 
at (248) 592-2317 or 
ecroitori@jfsdetroit.org. 

Dana 
Nessel

B’nai Israel Picks 
Board, Officers

B’nai Israel Synagogue of 
West Bloomfield announced 
its board of directors and 
officers for the latest syna-
gogue year. 
Officers: co-presidents: 
Joanna Abramson and 
Cheryl Berlin; vice president: 
Charles Seigerman; secretary: 
Mechelle Bernard; treasur-
er: David Pappas. Board 
members: Robert Kimmel, 
Randall Soverinsky, Amy 
Robbins, David Victor and 
past presidents, Frank Ellias 
and Linda Jacobson. Linda 
Jacobson continues as execu-
tive director.
For more information, visit 
the website: bnaiisraelwb.org, 
or call (248) 432-2729. 

