Mother in law (83) hears music when there is none. Calls husband to come and listen, there is no music. Is it dementia?

Get her checked for a bladder infection, also. Mom (with Alz dementia) had visual and auditory hallucinations when she developed bladder infection.

As an R.N. , working in the field & as a care giver with my husband, I HEAR MUSIC & have all my life. I do not have Dementia or Alzheimer's...
Music is a very spiritual part of the life. Just another perspective...take what you need & delete the rest...Hearing music is not a bad thing...nor is it always "Something is wrong..."
Blessings...

Auditory hallucinations can also be normal, without any stimulus like alcohol drugs or stress. I have had a few episodes during my life that I remember; all took place as I was waking up from a nap or overnight sleep. All involved hearing classical orchestra music, nothing I could recognize. Unless the patient has other symptoms and has been evaluated for other disorders, it can mean little or nothing when there are such "hearing problems". That is what I was told by 3 specialists over the last 30 years. I have normal hearing, have no dementia, but who knows what is anyone's future..

I just had to offer this for a laugh: I was on the home phone with my mom when my nephew walked through the room. I said, "Hey, Evan, say Hi to grandma" and put her on hold while he gathered his thoughts. When he got on with her, she told him she didn't know he was a musician and thanked him for playing for her. Mom has dementia and Evan assumed this was another manifestation. We have a home-based business and a business phone account for all our phones ... so today I called the home phone from my cell and put myself on hold. Sure enough -- our phone company, Comcast, provides "hold" music!

Visual or audio hallucinations can be an early symptom of certain kinds of dementia, such as Dementia with Lewy Bodies. I'm sure that isn't the only disorder that hallucinations might be associated with. The best course of action at this point, in my opinion, is for MIL to be evaluated by a geriatrician.

Jonilc : abnormalities in the auditory cortex, thalamic infarcts, subarachnoid hemorrhage, tumors of the brain can be the cause. See a neurologist.

My mother had a knee replacement, 88yrs old with dementia. After the surgery, while in rehab, she heard the same song daily for about 3 months. Thank goodness it did eventually go away. But she still hears door bells and people talking in the middle of the night, when it is at it's quietest.

JAW b40, I have tinnitus, but hear annoying rushing air and ringing instead of music. I would much rather have the music. Would the Lipoflavonoids work for me?

pam got it right -- prob'ly. thalamic brainfarcts..
i hear pink floyd right now and the dam stereo aint even on ..

My 89 year old mother has serious hearing loss. The audiologist has said that when the ears / mind are not hearing things that the mind fills that void with other things - in my mom's case it is music. She will ask my son about the music he is playing (he isn't) and she thinks the neighbors play music she listened to 60 years ago. She will go around the house singing along to the tunes she thinks they are all playing. It makes her happy and so I do not tell her she is just hearing things - that would just bring her mood down.