Musical Activity During Life Is Associated With Multi-Domain Cognitive and Brain Benefits in Older Adults

Böttcher, Adriana; Zarucha, Alexis; Köbe, Theresa; Gaubert, Malo; Höppner, Angela; Altenstein, Slawek; Bartels, Claudia; Büerger, Katharina; Dechent, Peter; Dobisch, Laura; Ewers, Michael; Fließbach, Klaus; Freiesleben, Silka Dawn; Frommann, Ingo; Haynes, John­–Dylan; Janowitz, Daniel; Kilimann, Ingo; Kleineidam, Luca; Laske, Christoph; Maier, Franziska; Metzger, Coraline D.; Munk, Matthias H. J.; Perneczky, Robert; Peters, Oliver; Priller, Josef; Rauchmann, Boris‐Stephan; Roy, Nina; Scheffler, Klaus; Schneider, Anja; Spottke, Annika; Teipel, Stefan J.; Wiltfang, Jens; Wolfsgruber, Steffen; Yakupov, Renat; Düzel, Emrah; Jessen, Frank; Röske, Sandra; Wagner, Michael; Kempermann, Gerd; Wirth, Miranka

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.945709

Cited by 11 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 107 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…These findings and the ones by Okely et al 20 . support the theory that learning to play a musical instrument has lasting impacts on multiple aspects of cognition, including executive function and working memory 22,26,28,32,33 . The findings particularly point towards a greater benefit to working memory, but not to executive function, when musical engagement is continued into older age.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 70%

“…These findings and the ones by Okely et al 20 support the theory that learning to play a musical instrument has lasting impacts on multiple aspects of cognition, including executive function and working memory. 22,26,28,32,33 The findings particularly point towards a greater benefit to working memory, but not to executive function, when musical engagement is continued into older age. Many musicians that took part in this study played the keyboard, which has previously been associated with better executive function and a greater activity among the pre-frontal and mid-central regions of the brain 34.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The relationship between playing musical instruments and cognitive trajectories: Analysis from a UK ageing cohort

Vetere,

Williams,

Ballard

et al. 2024

Int J Geriat Psychiatry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundThe accumulation of age‐associated cognitive deficits can lead to Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and dementia. This is a major public health issue for the modern ageing population, as it impairs health, independence and overall quality of life. Keeping the brain active during life has been associated with an increased cognitive reserve, therefore reducing the risk of cognitive impairment in older age. Previous research has identified a potential relationship between musicality and cognition.ObjectivesExplore the relationship between musicality and cognitive function in a large cohort of older adults.MethodsThis was a nested study within the PROTECT‐UK cohort, which collects longitudinal computerised assessments of cognitive function in adults over 40. Participants were invited to complete the validated Edinburgh Lifetime Musical Experience Questionnaire (ELMEQ) to assess their musical experience and lifetime exposure to music. Linear regression analysis was performed using cognitive data from PROTECT‐UK.ResultsAnalysis identified an association between musicality and cognition in this cohort. Playing a musical instrument was associated with significantly better performance in working memory and executive function. Significant associations were also found between singing and executive function, and between overall musical ability and working memory.ConclusionsOur findings confirm previous literature, highlighting the potential value of education and engagement in musical activities throughout life as a means of harnessing cognitive reserve as part of a protective lifestyle for brain health.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 70%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

The relationship between playing musical instruments and cognitive trajectories: Analysis from a UK ageing cohort

Vetere,

Williams,

Ballard

et al. 2024

Int J Geriat Psychiatry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…where musicians were found to have better visuospatial abilities among other cognitive abilities such as language, working memory, and executive functioning. [ 23 ] A notable point in our study is that the musicians were all Carnatic singers, and it has been evidenced that Carnatic music improves spatial reasoning by activating several limbic pathways that function through cortical networks. [ 24 ] Anaya et al ., have also suggested that musicians are able to learn and reproduce visuospatial information better than non-musicians.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Music and the aging brain – Exploring the role of long-term Carnatic music training on cognition and gray matter volumes

Ghosh,

Singh,

et al. 2024

JNRP

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objectives: Aging is a natural process and is often associated with an increased incidence of cognitive impairment. Physical exercise, diet, and leisure activities (music, dance, and art) are some of the lifestyle factors that contribute to healthy aging. The present study aims to explore the differences in cognitive functioning between aging individuals involved in musical activity throughout their lifetime and the ones who were not. Materials and Methods: Fifty-one healthy elderly individuals (50–80 years of age) residing in an urban locality were selected for the study from the Tata Longitudinal Study of Aging cohort. Participants were divided into two groups: Active musicians trained in Carnatic music for more than five years (n = 18) and age-matched non-musicians (n = 33). Addenbrooke cognitive examination-III, Hindi mental status examination, and trail-making test-B (TMT-B) were used to assess cognitive functioning. A Generalized Linear Regression Model was performed including covariates such as gender, age, and years of education. We also looked at the available brain magnetic resonance imaging data of a subset of our study population to inspect the volumetric differences between musicians and non-musicians. Results: Our results showed that musicians had significantly better visuospatial abilities as compared to non-musicians (P = 0.043). Musicians (130.89 ± 45.16 s) also took less time to complete the TMT-B task than non-musicians (148.73 ± 39.65 s), although it was not a statistically significant difference (P =0.150). In addition, brain imaging data suggested that musicians had increased gray matter volumes in the right precuneus, right post-central gyrus, right medial and superior frontal gyrus, right orbital gyrus, left middle temporal gyrus, left cuneus, left fusiform gyrus, and bilateral cingulate gyrus. Conclusion: Our findings are indicative of music being an important attribute in improving cognitive reserve and predicting cognitive resilience. These findings pave the way to explore the utility of non-pharmacological interventions, such as Music Therapy (especially Carnatic music in the Indian context), as a potential factor for improving cognitive reserve in elderly individuals.

show abstract

“…In this cross-sectional study, we aimed to investigate to what extent self-reported playing of a musical instrument in early, middle, and late life stages (subsequently termed “lifetime musical activity”) might be related to RSFC within the FPN, DMN, SAL networks in cognitively unimpaired OA. As mentioned above, previous studies have shown that neural correlates associated with musical activity/experience in OA partially overlap with these higher-order brain networks [ 6 , 17 , 21 ]. We therefore addressed the hypothesis that participation in this multimodal lifestyle activity relates to increased RSFC in the triple networks.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Playing a musical instrument necessitates the activation and integration of multimodal motor, sensory, cognitive and emotional processes, which may help to preserve neural function in distributed brain networks into older age. Studies in cognitively unimpaired OA have shown that greater musical activity/experience is associated with greater neural resources or neural capacities in distant brain regions including higher-order frontal, temporal, and/or parietal areas [ 6 , 17 ]. This aligns with findings in young to middle-aged musicians, showing greater functional and/or structural connectivity within (but not limited to) frontal-temporal-parietal brain networks compared to control participants [ 18 – 20 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Short communication: Lifetime musical activity and resting-state functional connectivity in cognitive networks

Liebscher,

Dell’Orco,

Doll-Lee

et al. 2024

PLoS ONE

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Participation in multimodal leisure activities, such as playing a musical instrument, may be protective against brain aging and dementia in older adults (OA). Potential neuroprotective correlates underlying musical activity remain unclear. Objective This cross-sectional study investigated the association between lifetime musical activity and resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) in three higher-order brain networks: the Default Mode, Fronto-Parietal, and Salience networks. Methods We assessed 130 cognitively unimpaired participants (≥ 60 years) from the baseline cohort of the DZNE-Longitudinal Cognitive Impairment and Dementia Study (DELCODE) study. Lifetime musical activity was operationalized by the self-reported participation in musical instrument playing across early, middle, and late life stages using the Lifetime of Experiences Questionnaire (LEQ). Participants who reported musical activity during all life stages (n = 65) were compared to controls who were matched on demographic and reserve characteristics (including education, intelligence, socioeconomic status, self-reported physical activity, age, and sex) and never played a musical instrument (n = 65) in local (seed-to-voxel) and global (within-network and between-network) RSFC patterns using pre-specified network seeds. Results Older participants with lifetime musical activity showed significantly higher local RSFC between the medial prefrontal cortex (Default Mode Network seed) and temporal as well as frontal regions, namely the right temporal pole and the right precentral gyrus extending into the superior frontal gyrus, compared to matched controls. There were no significant group differences in global RSFC within or between the three networks. Conclusion We show that playing a musical instrument during life relates to higher RSFC of the medial prefrontal cortex with distant brain regions involved in higher-order cognitive and motor processes. Preserved or enhanced functional connectivity could potentially contribute to better brain health and resilience in OA with a history in musical activity. Trial registration German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS00007966, 04/05/2015).

show abstract

Musical Activity During Life Is Associated With Multi-Domain Cognitive and Brain Benefits in Older Adults

Cited by 11 publications

References 107 publications

The relationship between playing musical instruments and cognitive trajectories: Analysis from a UK ageing cohort

The relationship between playing musical instruments and cognitive trajectories: Analysis from a UK ageing cohort

Music and the aging brain – Exploring the role of long-term Carnatic music training on cognition and gray matter volumes

Short communication: Lifetime musical activity and resting-state functional connectivity in cognitive networks

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About