The Sanremo Festival is now upon us. For a week the 'Italian song' will flood the television schedules and for the following weeks the catchiest songs, once played on the radio, will enter the brains of hundreds of thousands of people. But the catchphrase effect isn't the only way music exerts power over our minds. Word of scientists. According to a new study published in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry by experts at the University of Exeter, UK, lifelong music enjoyment is associated with better brain health in later life. Playing an instrument, but also singing in a choir, is correlated with this result.
Scientists working on the project called 'Protect', an online study open to people aged 40 and over, examined data from more than a thousand adults over 40 to see the effect of these musical activities on the brain. Over 25 thousand people have signed up for the study, which has been running for 10 years. The team examined participants' musical experience and exposure to music throughout their lives, along with cognitive test results, to determine whether musicality can be considered an elixir for the brain of older adults, whether it helps keep it active in old age. The results show that yes, playing an instrument, especially the piano, appears to be indeed linked to improving memory and the ability to solve complex tasks, known as executive functions. Continuing to play even as the years pass offers even greater benefits. The work suggests that singing may also be linked to better brain health, although this could also be due to social factors linked to belonging to a choir or band.
The Protect study, explains Anne Corbett, University of Exeter, “offered us a unique opportunity to explore the relationship between cognitive performance and music in a large cohort of older adults. Overall, we believe that being musical may be a way to exploit the agility and resilience of the brain, the so-called cognitive reserve. Although further research is needed to investigate this relationship, our findings indicate that promoting music education can be a valuable part of public health initiatives to promote a brain-protective lifestyle, as well as encouraging older adults to return to music in later life.”
There is, continues Corbett, “considerable evidence of the benefit of group musical activities for people with dementia and this approach could be extended as part of a healthy aging package for older people, with the aim of enabling them to reduce proactively reduce risk and promote brain health.”
The example is also given of Stuart Douglas, a 78 year old accordionist from Cornwall, who has played this instrument all his life and now plays with the Cober Valley Accordion Band and the Cornish Division of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society. “We play Memory Cafés regularly,” Douglas said, “and we have seen the effect our music has on people with memory loss. As older musicians we have no doubt that continuing with music into old age has played an important role in keep our brains healthy.” Living examples of various rock glories. Above all, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Ronnie Wood, the first two 80 years old and the other 76, a lifetime of touring on and off stages all over the world. And in 2024 they still continue to keep the legend of the Rolling Stones alive.
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