This study aims to examine that art therapy for old people with dementia
affects their numerical value of the function of the brain (BQ- Brain Quotient). By checking the change of β-waves which reflect the activity of the brain of old people with d...
This study aims to examine that art therapy for old people with dementia
affects their numerical value of the function of the brain (BQ- Brain Quotient). By checking the change of β-waves which reflect the activity of the brain of old people with dementia and by observing the numerical value of SMR-waves in them, I was able to ascertain the change of the ATQ (Attention Quotient) and CQ (Correlation Quotient) of old people.
This study surveyed ten (10) elderly people over 65 years old at the S welfare center in Seoul and at the C welfare center in Kyongkido in an experimental group. They were diagnosed as either having Alzheimer's disease or Vascular Dementia by the MMSE-K(Mini-Mental State Examination). In addition, they are classified as either having mild dementia (6 people) or Moderate dementia (4 people) by DSM-Ⅲ-R. The experiment was conducted four times in 2008; March, May 23rd, May 30th, and June 6th. On the other hand, this study also surveyed 10 other old people over 65 years old at the old people's hall as a control group.
Through digitizing the data from the survey to BQ-tests, I was able to get a numerical value of the brains. Furthermore, I analyzed the numerical value of their brains with the pair T-test of the SPSS WIN V. 12.0 and the general features of the elderly people in the both groups with the Frequency Analysis.
The results of this study are as follows;
First, there is a significant difference in the numerical value of the ATQ between the experimental group with art therapy and the control group without art therapy. As a result, the art therapy in the experimental group activated not only their β-waves but also the brains of the elderly people in the experimental group.
Second, there is a significant difference in the numerical value of the CQ between the experimental group and the control group. After the elderly people in the experimental group received the art therapy, their brains became more balanced. In conclusion, art therapy helped the old people in the experimental group both to relive their emotions and to improve their desire to communicate.
Based on those changes in the numerical values of the brain, it can be concluded that art therapy can be useful not only to improve or relieve dementia but also to prevent the disease.