Even those who start learning to play a musical instrument later in life can reap significant brain health benefits. This is the conclusion drawn by the authors of two recent studies.
According to researchers, older adults who play musical instruments have healthier brains that are better protected against dementia.
What Did the First Study Reveal?
The study, published in the journal PLOS Biology, was conducted by Canadian and Chinese scientists. It involved 50 adult volunteers with an average age of 65. Half of them had been playing a musical instrument for at least 32 years, while the other half had no musical experience. The team also included 24 younger participants, averaging 23 years old, none of whom had any formal music education.
The researchers measured blood flow in the participants’ brains using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). During the scans, the volunteers listened to a recording of a person speaking against the background noise created by 50 other people. Participants were tasked with identifying what the speaker was saying.
It turned out that the brains of older musicians performed the task just as adeptly as those of the younger participants.
However, older adults who did not engage in music showed signs of age-related cognitive decline. Specifically, while musicians benefited from strong connections in the right hemisphere of the brain, non-musicians did not exhibit this advantage. They had to compensate by also using their left hemisphere, which meant they were putting more strain on their brains.
“Just as a well-tuned instrument doesn’t need to be played louder to be heard, the brains of older musicians remain finely tuned thanks to years of practice,” noted Dr. Yi Du, a co-author of the study from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
As we age, many brain functions, such as memory, learning, and perception, decline, which can ultimately lead to dementia. However, scientists believe that cognitive reserve—the brain’s ability to cope with damage—helps prevent the deterioration of cognitive functions.
“It’s still unclear how this works,” said Dr. Morten Shai-bi-Knudsen, an associate professor at the University of Copenhagen’s Department of Aging, in an interview with BBC Science Focus.
What Did the Second Study Reveal?
Another recent study, published in the journal Imaging Neuroscience, also demonstrated that engaging in music can strengthen brain health, even if a person starts playing at an older age.
A team of researchers from Kyoto University (Japan) involved 53 older volunteers, with an average age of 73. Over four months, participants learned to play musical instruments. Four years after the initial observations, scientists conducted MRI scans of the participants’ brains while they took a verbal memory test. Notably, only 13 of them continued to pursue music.
Those who stopped playing musical instruments showed the worst results in memory tests. Moreover, the area of the brain responsible for motor functions, learning, and memory actually decreased in volume.
However, those who continued to engage in music over the four years since the initial study showed no signs of cognitive decline.
According to Dr. Shai-bi-Knudsen, “Playing a musical instrument can positively impact not only the preservation of cognitive functions as we age but also the maintenance of the brain’s structural integrity.”
He added, “Playing a musical instrument has other benefits beyond those studied; it fosters social interaction, which is crucial for aging individuals. So I hope people will take up music. It’s never too late to learn.”