- Playing an instrument throughout your life can promote cognitive health in your later years, a new study has found.
- Although playing woodwind and brass instruments has also been found to be beneficial for cognitive ability, people who play piano into adulthood are most likely to benefit the most.
- The study also found a link between singing in a choir and cognitive health, although it was unable to determine whether this was the result of singing itself or participating in a social activity.
Playing music or choral singing throughout adulthood is linked to better cognitive health as we age, says a new study from the University of Exeter in the UK.
The study is an analysis of data from the larger PROTECT study, which looked at people aged 40 and over. It’s a collaboration with King’s College London and has been in the works for a decade.
Looking at data from a subset of the PROTECT study, the authors of the new study looked at the cognitive effects of playing an instrument or singing in a choir. Individuals’ lifetime exposure to music and their musical experience were compared with their cognitive function.
The study was published in
The study authors found that adults who played an instrument were more likely to have stronger working memory and executive functions. Singing in a choir is also associated with better executive function.
A higher level of overall musical ability is associated with stronger working memory.
While simply listening to music is known to be beneficial for older adults, the study highlights the added benefit of engaging in music as it engages more areas of the brain. No relationship was observed between passive music listening and cognitive health.
People whose playing continued as they aged were more likely to have even better cognitive health.
Most of the study participants had played for a limited number of years, typically 5 years or less, and just over three-quarters had received 2 to 5 years of training. Individuals reported practicing 2-3 hours per week or less during their active musical years.
The instrument most significantly associated with better cognitive health is the piano.
Woodwind and brass players also showed higher cognitive scores, although not as high as pianists. The study found no relationship between cognitive ability and playing percussion, bowed instruments and guitar.
Although researchers have observed positive effects from choral singing, it is unclear whether this is an effect simply from singing or socializing with others also adds to its cognitive value, and the authors say further research is needed.
The results of the study highlight the potential value of music education at a time when many school music programs are being phased out. He also promoted the idea that engaging in musical activities in adulthood was a way of protecting one’s own
Dr. Jenny Dorris is a research scientist at the University of Pittsburgh and a percussionist and was not involved in the study. She noted that it “provides new insights into the effects of specific instruments—such as brass, woodwind, strings, and keyboards—on aspects of cognition.”
“It’s starting to help us understand what kinds of music activities might be beneficial for certain outcomes,” Dr. Dorris said.
She quotes
“They found that the singing group was the only group that reported a significant increase in quality of life between pre-test and post-test,” said Dr Dorris.
Oregon Health & Science Institute professor Dr. Larry Sherman, also not involved in the study, authored the Every Brain Needs Music: The Neuroscience of Making and Listening to Music.
“This [study] is exciting as it supports the need for music therapy as part of memory care,” he told us.
Dr. Sherman describes the physiological mechanisms by which playing or singing music can support cognition:
“Practicing music can affect the brain in many ways, including increasing the speed of nerve impulses by inducing the formation of myelin, which wraps the processes of nerve cells, and by increasing synapses – the connections between nerve cells. It can also stimulate the generation of new nerve cells.
Much research on music and cognition has focused on older people with dementia.
Virginia Biggar of Aging in the United Stateswho was not involved in the current study, said: “There are countless studies showing the various benefits of music for memory, cognition and brain health, and the value of music as a positive engagement tool for people with dementia.”
“Music,” Biggar said, “is commonly incorporated into programs in assisted living and nursing homes, whether in movement classes or similar events, singing or playing simple instruments for social engagement.”
Music is also a tool used to support memory, she added, “as a way to engage those with dementia or as a calming technique.”
Biggar also pointed out that there are choirs designed specifically for people with cognitive loss. “Many people with dementia are being made around the world as music is increasingly recognized as therapeutic, fun and engaging for people with dementia and their carers.
There are also various online resources to help incorporate music into the lives of older people and those with dementia, such as Dr Dorris’ research project, Project Unmute, which connects younger musicians with older people facing bereavement of memory.
