Playing music or choral singing throughout one’s adult life is associated with better cognitive health as we age, says a new study from the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom. The study is an analysis of data from the larger PROTECT study, looking at people aged 40 or older. It is a collaboration with King’s College London and has been underway for a decade.
Going through data from a subset of the PROTECT study, the authors of the new study tracked the cognitive effects of playing an instrument, or choral singing. Individuals’ lifelong exposure to music and their musical experience were compared to their cognitive function.
Most of the study participants had played for a limited number of years, typically 5 years or less, and slightly over three-quarters had received 2 to 5 years of instruction. Individuals reported practicing 2–3 hours a week or less during their active musical years.
The study is published in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.
Musical ability may help keep the brain healthy. A higher level of overall musical ability was linked to a stronger working memory. People whose playing continued as they grew older were more likely to have even stronger cognitive health.
While simply listening to music is known to be helpful for older people, the study underscored the additional benefit of participating in music, as this involves more areas of the brain. It observed no link between listening to music passively and cognitive health.
The instrument most significantly linked to better cognitive health was the piano. Players of woodwinds and brass also exhibited higher cognitive scores, though not as high as pianists. The study found no association between cognition and playing percussion, bowed instruments, or guitar.
While the researchers did observe positive effects from choral singing, it is unclear if this is an effect simply of singing or if socializing with others also adds to its cognitive value, and the authors say further research is needed.
The effect of musicality on cognitive reserve: The study’s findings underscore the potential value of musical education at a time when many school music programs are being eliminated. It also promotes the idea that engagement in musical activities throughout adulthood is a way to protectively harness one’s cognitive reserve.
Oregon Health & Science Institute professor Dr. Larry Sherman, not involved in the study, is the author of Every Brain Needs Music: The Neuroscience of Making and Listening to Music. “This [study] is exciting as it supports a need for music therapy as part of memory care.
Dr. Sherman described the physiological mechanisms through which playing or singing music may support cognition: “Practicing music can impact the brain in many ways, including increasing the speed of nerve impulses by inducing the formation of myelin, which wraps around nerve cell processes, and by increasing synapses—the connections between nerve cells. It may also actually drive the generation of new nerve cells.”
Source: Excerpted from an article at https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/playing-an-instrument-singing-may-help-preserve-brain-health
