Beating the Drum for Brain Benefits

AFTER A FALL from her horse a few years ago left Elizabeth Bock in a monthlong coma, extensive rehab helped the former hedge fund executive regain her footing. But it was a University of Maryland alum’s unique training regime, she says, that got her mind back in rhythm.

In Drumboxing, a “brain fitness” program created by percussionist John Wakefield ’89, participants jump and bang an array of conga drums, with ever-changing cadences aiming to promote short-term memory and new neural connections. This spring, he launched a subscription-based app to bring the beats to a wide audience.

“(Drumboxing) helps the mind connect with rhythms everywhere,” Wakefield says, “and with being comfortable with unpredictability.”

He grew up marching to the beat of Terps’ drums, accompanying his dad, Director of Bands Emeritus John E. Wakefield, to rehearsals on Chapel Field. After majoring in music performance, he attended graduate school at the University of Southern California and settled in Los Angeles, where he drummed for movie soundtracks and the LA Opera.

In 2010, while at a boxing gym with his son, a trainer asked him to work with his client, who needed more rhythm in the ring. “I noticed immediately how the changes in tempo improved focus,” Wakefield says.

He joined pro volleyball player Christina Hinds to expand the idea, going from small sessions in her driveway to a Malibu-based studio, where regulars soon included Cindy Crawford and LeAnn Rimes.

It closed in June, but Wakefield says the goal was always to take Drumboxing digital. App users can purchase drums or sub in a countertop, chairs or even their legs. This accessibility has helped the co-founders virtually offer Drumboxing to Parkinson’s patients, and Wakefield hopes future studies by interested neuroscientists can shed more light on its cognitive benefits.

“This is a wonderful service that John’s discovered,” Bock says. “He’s onto something.”