You probably know some of the amazing powers of music already, but did you know music promotes healthy aging?
Taking music lesson in childhood can defend us from common aging ailments and issues. Those who took music lessons as a child are less likely to experience memory loss, cognitive decline, and experience less trouble from hearing loss as they age.
Music gives our minds a ‘workout’. Different parts of the brain will react to music which builds new neurons and connections in our brain making it more resilient over time. Emory University researcher Dr. Hanna-Pladdy reported:
“Musical activity throughout life may serve as a challenging cognitive exercise, making your brain fitter and more capable of accommodating the challenges of aging.”
Music has a strong and lasting impact on the brain because by learning an instrument, you’ve created additional neural connections that last a lifetime. All the hours you put in practicing and learning specific types of motor control and coordination coupled with the music reading and listening skills needed to play an instrument all contribute to that “Brain-Lift” that shows up later in life.
Even if you haven’t played for years, you’ll still be able cash in on the age-fighting benefits. Adults who start playing an instrument as a complete beginner in middle age can also improve their odds against aging!
Musical Training Grows Your Brain
Studies have shown imaging that music training increases the volume of gray matter in your brain. Other studies also find increases in white matter. These findings speak to the brain’s plasticity ( its ability to change/adapt in response to experience environment or behavior) and that musical training enhances and builds connections within the brain.
Alison Balbag holds a doctorate in music and currently earning a PhD in gerontology (the study of the aging process) with concentration on the impact of music on health throughout the lifespan. She says,
“What’s unique about playing an instrument is that it requires a wide array of brain regions and cognitive functions to work together simultaneously, in both right and left hemispheres of the brain.”
Playing music is an efficient way to stimulate the brain and continue a ripple effect over decades.
**INTERESTING FACT**
A 1995 study that showed professional musicians who began training before age 7 have a thicker anterior corpus callosum – part of the pathway that links the right and left hemispheres of the brain.
The Longer You Played an Instrument, the Better
Even though we know you can give your brain a boost if you start playing an instrument in middle age, studies show you will have the best results if you’ve played for years.
A study done in 2011 took healthy adults between 60 – 83 years old and divided them into 3 groups: musicians playing over 10 years, musicians playing 1 – 9 and then non-musicians. The results from a battery of neuropsychological tests showed the highest scores from the group who studied for 10+ years. Not surprisingly, the second highest scoring group were those who played between 1 – 9 years and the lowest performing group comprised of the non-musicians,
The more you train and play the more benefits you’ll gain, but luckily you’ll still get something with any amount of musical training
Music Training can Help your Memory
The number of Americans 65 and older with Alzheimer’s is expected to triple nearly by 2050 — 13.8 million from 5 million now. The annual cost of dementia in the United States in 2050 will be $1.2 trillion, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.
Early research suggests keeping the brain active may hold back dementia symptoms by up to five years. Dr. Hanna – Pladdy explains,
“If you can delay the presentation (of dementia) by five years, then you add an extra five years of functioning to an individual at the end of the life span.”
Scientists believe musical training does the trick.
Brain networks that have been strengthened by musical training help to delay the detrimental effects of aging.
Hanna-Pladdy’s research has demonstrated that extensive musical instrumental training, even in amateur musicians, provides a cognitive benefit that can last throughout a person’s life. In her first study results showed that even if participants stopped playing music as they got older (but played for at least 10 years), they still performed better at cognitive tasks than those who never picked up an instrument.
Study participants who continue to play their instruments at older ages perform better on tasks of visuospatial judgment, which suggests there continues to be plasticity in advanced age! Hanna- Pladdy says:
“Finding a way to harness this plasticity is probably one of the biggest hopes we have for treating brain disorders or dealing with cognitive decline in advanced age. Similarly, continuing to play music in advanced age added a protective benefit to individuals with less education, which has previously been demonstrated (to be) one of the most robust ways to create cognitive reserve. Thus, musical training appears to be a viable model for cognitive stimulation, and can be conceptualized as an alternate form of education.”
**INTERESTING FACT**
A study shows musicians who began playing before 9 years old had a better verbal working memory function than those who started later or didn’t play at all. (So if you have kids – don’t wait!)
Playing Music Helps your Hearing
Hearing tends to decline as we age, including the ability to quickly and accurately discern consonants- something crucial to understanding and participating in conversation. Neuroscientist Nina Kraus explains –
“If your nervous system is not keeping up with the timing necessary for encoding consonants—did you say bill or pill or fill, or hat or that—even if the vowel part is understood, you will lose out on the flow and meaning of the conversation, and that can potentially lead to a downward spiral of feeling socially isolated.”
Kraus performed a study that measured the electrical activity in the auditory brainstems of 44 adults, ages 55 to 76. None had played a musical instrument in 40 years, however those who had trained longest earlier in life – between 4 – 14 years of musical training – had the highest results of the study.
Kraus feels strongly that there may be other significant listening and hearing benefits later in life, although she hasn’t tested them yet.
“Musicians throughout their lives, and as they age, hear better in noisy environments,” she says. “Difficulty in hearing words against a noisy background is a common complaint among people as they get older.”
Musical training also enhances the auditory working memory which is what helps reinforce the memory capacity needed for communication and conversation as we age. Musicians train their auditory working memory when improvising, memorizing, playing in time and tuning instruments.
You Can Start Now
As we’ve discovered you will reap the most benefits music has to offer by starting as a child and playing for years, but don’t forget you can begin later in life to receive some of the great cerebral rewards.
To prove this, just look at the research from Jennifer Bugos, an assistant professor of music education at the University of South Florida, Tampa.She studied the impact of private piano lesson on adults between the ages of 60 and 85.
After six months, those who took piano lessons showed stronger gains in memory, verbal fluency, the speed at which they processed information, planning ability, and other cognitive functions, compared with those who had not received lessons.
This research is just the beginning – many more studies are already set in motion to show us more!
“People often shy away from learning to play a musical instrument at a later age, but it’s definitely possible to learn and play well into late adulthood.”
Well Ms. Bugos – every other great music teacher around would agree with you!
Remember, playing an instrument utilizes so many parts of your brain at once that it’s a work out. Just as we work out our bodies, we should be working out our minds.
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