Alive Inside

"Alive Inside" (2014) is an American documentary you can watch online on iFILM, directed by Michael Rossato-Bennett. It follows social worker Dan Cohen as he brings iPods loaded with personally curated playlists to nursing home residents living with Alzheimer's — and documents what happens when they put on the headphones.

What happens is hard to account for any other way than: it works. People who hadn't meaningfully engaged with caregivers or family for months start moving, talking, and singing within minutes of hearing their music. Neurologist Oliver Sacks explains the neuroscience — musical memory encodes differently and survives further into dementia than other forms of recall. Musician Bobby McFerrin demonstrates the effect of rhythmic expectation in real time. The film won the Audience Award at Sundance 2014. Stream "Alive Inside" online on iFILM.