Do Older Professional Musicians Have Cognitive Advantages?

Abstract

The current study investigates whether long-term music training and practice are associated with enhancement of general cognitive abilities in late middle-aged to older adults. Professional musicians and non-musicians who were matched on age, education, vocabulary, and general health were compared on a near-transfer task involving auditory processing and on far-transfer tasks that measured spatial span and aspects of cognitive control. Musicians outperformed non-musicians on the near-transfer task, on most but not all of the far-transfer tasks, and on a composite measure of cognitive control. The results suggest that sustained music training or involvement is associated with improved aspects of cognitive functioning in older adults.

The effects of musical training on movement pre-programming and re-programming abilities: An event-related potential investigation

“…This finding fits with a number of previous reports suggesting a link between musical training and response speed (e.g. expert musicians: Amer et al, 2013;older adults;Khemthong et al, 2012;Amer et al, 2013;Metzler et al, 2013;amateur musicians: Hughes & Franz, 2007;Jentzsch et al, 2014). Importantly, despite these general group differences, musicians did not differ from non-musicians in their ability to selectively prepare a forthcoming movement using pre-specified movement information or to re-program in incorrectly pre-specified motor plan.…”

“…Musicians responded generally faster than non-musicians, replicating earlier studies (e.g., Amer et al, 2013;Jentzsch et al, 2014), but did not show an enlarged precue effect in any of the behavioural measures or the CNV amplitude. It is important to note that the precue effect itself (i.e.…”

Tuning the mind: Exploring the connections between musical ability and executive functions

“…Although correlational studies such as this cannot disentangle effects of musical experience from pre-existing differences between those who do or do not pursue musical training, the specificity of the relationships observed here -where musical ability is related selectively to working memory updating and not to inhibition or switching performancesuggests that the measure of musical ability is not simply acting as a proxy for task engagement or serving only as a reflection of advantages in general intelligence (e.g., Schellenberg, 2011). However, this selectivity is surprising in light of other work finding that musicians show advantages on inhibitory control (e.g., Amer et al, 2013;Moreno et al, 2011;Strait et al, 2010).…”

“…Similarly, older adults showed reduced Stroop interference following four months of piano training, unlike an age-matched group pursuing other leisure activities (Seinfeld, Figueroa, Ortiz-Gil, & Sanchez-Vives, 2013). Older adult musicians have been found to outperform age matched non-musicians on a composite measure of typical cognitive control tasks (Amer, Kalender, Hasher, Trehub, & Wong, 2013).…”

The effects of music‐supported therapy on motor, cognitive, and psychosocial functions in chronic stroke

“…The participants in the MST group rated higher in their communication competency in the SIS. Interestingly, however, the scores in Alpha Span and Verbal Fluency were not associated with MST, unlike some reports showing musicians’ advantages in such fluency and working memory tasks in young and older age . Thus, the improved self‐report in communication skills may not have reflected their verbal and working memory ability, but rather their psychosocial competency in the context of communicating with others in daily life.…”