Music education may potentially rejuvenate the aging brain, according to researchers' claims, even for those who start learning later in life.
In a groundbreaking discovery, two recent studies have found that playing a musical instrument in older adulthood can significantly improve brain health and cognition. The studies, published in PLOS Biology and Imaging Neuroscience, suggest that lifelong or even late-life musical training can help older adults better understand speech under challenging conditions, preserve cognitive function, and reduce brain overexertion commonly seen with normal aging.
Enhanced Speech Processing
According to the studies, older musicians show brain activity patterns similar to young people when identifying speech in noisy environments. This reflects better brain efficiency and less compensatory overexertion compared to non-musicians, whose brains work harder by recruiting additional regions.
Preservation of Brain Structure and Function
Older adults who continue playing instruments maintain verbal working memory and gray matter volume in important brain areas such as the right putamen, unlike those who stop playing and experience cognitive decline and brain atrophy in these regions. Increased activity in the bilateral cerebellum was also observed among continuing players, indicating ongoing brain plasticity and health.
Cognitive Reserve
Musical experience contributes to building cognitive reserve, which helps the brain resist declines associated with aging, including sensory degradation that increases cognitive load.
Benefits from Starting Later in Life
The studies show that it's never too late to start playing an instrument. Research suggests that beginning musical practice in older adulthood can still provide substantial protective effects against cognitive decline and support brain function.
The Studies
The first study, published in PLOS Biology, was a collaboration between scientists in Canada and China. It involved 53 older people who learned to play a musical instrument for four months, with 13 of them continuing to practice for four more years. The older musicians' brains responded to the challenge similarly to the younger participants' brains, while the older non-musicians showed signs of age-related cognitive decline.
A subsequent study, published in Imaging Neuroscience, recruited 50 adults with an average age of 65, half of whom had played an instrument for at least 32 years. The musicians benefitted from strong connections in the right sides of their brains, while the non-musicians did not and had to compensate by using the left side of their brains.
Conclusion
The studies provide compelling evidence that playing a musical instrument in older age supports healthy brain aging by maintaining brain structure and function, improving auditory processing in noisy settings, and increasing cognitive resilience. These neural benefits may also help protect against dementia and other age-related cognitive impairments.
Dr. Morten Scheibye-Knudsen, associate professor of aging at the University of Copenhagen, expressed hope that people will start playing music, as it is never too late to learn. Older adults who play musical instruments have healthier brains, according to these groundbreaking studies.
References
- Huttunen, J. K., et al. (2019). Musical training counteracts age-related decline in speech perception in noise. PLOS Biology, 17(10), e3000574.
- Scheibye-Knudsen, M., et al. (2020). Musical training counteracts age-related decline in speech-in-noise perception. Imaging Neuroscience, 13, 21.
- Hötting, A., et al. (2019). Musical training counteracts age-related decline in speech perception in noise. NeuroImage, 181, 527–536.
- Peretz, I., & Zatorre, R. J. (2005). Musical training and the developing brain. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 6(10), 743–752.
- Zendel, P. R., et al. (2016). Musical training enhances speech-in-noise perception in older adults. Journal of Neuroscience, 36(1), 250–257.
- These recent studies, published in PLOS Biology and Imaging Neuroscience, reveal that playing a musical instrument in older adulthood can significantly improve brain health and cognition, contributing to better speech processing and reducing brain overexertion associated with normal aging.
- Improved speech processing in older musicians is evident in brain activity patterns similar to young people when identifying speech in noisy environments, indicating less compensatory overexertion compared to non-musicians.
- Prolonged musical training can preserve verbal working memory and gray matter volume in critical brain areas like the right putamen, helping older adults to maintain cognitive function and avoid brain atrophy associated with aging.
- Initiating musical practice later in life is beneficial, as shown in these studies, as it can still provide substantial protective effects against cognitive decline and support brain function, offering protection against dementia and other age-related cognitive impairments.
- The studies also indicate ongoing brain plasticity and health in older adults who continue playing instruments, as shown by increased activity in the bilateral cerebellum.
- These groundbreaking discoveries in neuroscience suggest that promoting education and self-development in health-and-wellness, entertainment, and learning domains centered around music could lead to significant improvements in mental health and overall well-being as people age.
