Assessment
The Power of Music
Practicing an instrument or simply listening to tunes can support your brain health
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Whether you're playing the piano or enjoying a Mozart concerto, music has restorative qualities that can lift your spirits and spark old memories.
Playing an instrument has been tied to greater volume in certain areas of the brain. And even just listening to a favorite song can improve your mood, sleep and more. “Music is processed all throughout the brain,” says Laurie Keough, clinical professor of music therapy at Nazareth College in Rochester, New York.
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Here’s a closer look at some of the brain benefits of music.
1. Improved memory and thinking skills
“An emerging body of evidence suggests that older adults have better cognitive outcomes if they engage with music, regardless of whether the engagement is through listening to music, playing an instrument, or singing,” note the authors of a study published in the Journals of Gerontology Series B, Psychological Sciences & Social Sciences in 2023.
The researchers followed 5,021 adults over the age of 50 for an average of 12 years. Participants were asked how often they listened to music (passive engagement) and sang and/or played an instrument (active engagement); they were also given cognitive tests every two years to evaluate episodic memory, which is the ability to recall details about past events. Only 961 people said they never listened to or performed music, and these participants performed worse over time on the episodic memory tests compared with those who engaged in music actively and passively or only passively.
In one study, amateur musicians had greater volumes in areas of the brain involved in executive function, memory, language and emotion compared with non-musicians. The study, published in Brain Sciences in 2021, included 73 adults between the ages of 60 and 80.
Music can also help people who are cognitively impaired. In one small study, 42 adults with an average age of 86 and mild to moderate cognitive decline were randomly assigned to 16 weeks of either music therapy or storytelling sessions. Participants in both groups were encouraged to share their feelings and life histories, but those who did music therapy — which included singing and playing instruments — saw more benefits. They performed better over time on cognitive tests that screened for executive function, language, attention and speed. They also had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol and reported better quality of life. The results were published in Psychology and Aging in 2024.
Hearing a familiar song from your past can even trigger memories. When people with dementia listen to popular music from their teens and 20s, they recall personal memories at the same rate as people without dementia, research shows. “We have a peak of autobiographical memories from that time, possibly due to it being an important time of self-development,” says Amee Baird, a clinical neuropsychologist based in Newcastle, Australia, who has done extensive research on music and memory in people with dementia.
2. Better sleep
Good-quality sleep is so essential to your well-being that it’s one of Staying Sharp’s six pillars of brain health. But getting enough shuteye can become more challenging as we age: According to AARP’s Global Council on Brain Health report “The Brain–Sleep Connection,” older adults are more likely to wake up during the night and rise earlier in the morning.
One tactic that could help you catch your nightly z’s: Play some relaxing tunes at bedtime. People who listened to soothing music for at least four weeks enjoyed “significantly better sleep quality” than those who didn’t, according to the results of a systematic review and meta-analysis of five studies involving a total of 288 adults age 60 and older published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society in 2021.
3. Sunnier mood
A favorite tune can buoy you on a frustrating day. “Music has an inherent ability to alter mood because of the way it’s processed in the limbic system and the way it releases feel-good chemicals in the brain,” Keough says. The limbic system is a network in the brain that controls basic emotions. Various forms of music therapy, including passive listening and group singing, can effectively relieve depression and anxiety, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis of 21 studies involving a total of 1,777 adults age 60 and older who had been diagnosed with depression. The results were published in Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice in 2023.
Go to Music and Brain Health to learn more about how music can trigger memories, improve your mood and more.
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