- Playing an instrument throughout your life can promote cognitive health in your later years, finds a new study.
- Although playing woodwinds and brass were also found to be cognitively beneficial, people who play piano through adulthood are the most likely to receive the greatest benefit.
- The study also found a link between singing in a choir and cognitive health, though it was unable to determine if this is the result of singing itself, or of participating in a social activity.
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.
The study is published in the
The authors of the study found that adults who play an instrument are more likely to have a stronger working memory and executive function. Singing in a choir was also associated with better executive function.
A higher level of overall musical ability was linked to a stronger working memory.
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.
People whose playing continued as they grew older were more likely to have even stronger cognitive health.
Most of the study participants had played for a limited number of years, typically 5 years or less, and slightly over three-quarters…
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