UNION GROVE, Wis. (AP) — The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is leading a new study on whether music can help dementia patients.

Similar studies will be done in Utah and Ohio on the Music and Memory program, which is in hundreds of nursing homes across the U.S. and Canada. The study in Wisconsin is the largest in the program.

Researchers are monitoring the responses of 1,500 Alzheimer’s and dementia patients who were given iPods at Wisconsin nursing homes through the program.

Their mental state will then be compared to the same number of people in 100 other nursing homes who haven’t received iPods.

Program founder Dan Cohen says he hopes the study will inform the health care system, but also encourage families and friends to visit dementia patients more often.