Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011 May;25(3):378-86.
doi: 10.1037/a0021895.

The relation between instrumental musical activity and cognitive aging

Brenda Hanna-Pladdy  1 , Alicia MacKay
Affiliations

The relation between instrumental musical activity and cognitive aging

Brenda Hanna-Pladdy et al. Neuropsychology. 2011 May.

Abstract

Objective: Intensive repetitive musical practice can lead to bilateral cortical reorganization. However, whether musical sensorimotor and cognitive abilities transfer to nonmusical cognitive abilities that are maintained throughout the life span is unclear. In an attempt to identify modifiable lifestyle factors that may potentially enhance successful aging, we evaluated the association between musical instrumental participation and cognitive aging.

Method: Seventy older healthy adults (ages 60-83) varying in musical activity completed a comprehensive neuropsychological battery. The groups (nonmusicians, low and high activity musicians) were matched on age, education, history of physical exercise, while musicians were matched on age of instrumental acquisition and formal years of musical training. Musicians were classified in the low (1-9 years) or high (>10 years) activity group based on years of musical experience throughout their life span.

Results: The results of this preliminary study revealed that participants with at least 10 years of musical experience (high activity musicians) had better performance in nonverbal memory (η2 = .106), naming (η2 = .103), and executive processes (η2 = .131) in advanced age relative to nonmusicians. Several regression analyses evaluated how years of musical activity, age of acquisition, type of musical training, and other variables predicted cognitive performance.

Conclusions: These correlational results suggest a strong predictive effect of high musical activity throughout the life span on preserved cognitive functioning in advanced age. A discussion of how musical participation may enhance cognitive aging is provided along with other alternative explanations.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Scaled scores for significant between-group results. VR II = Visual Reproduction Delayed Recall; BNT = Boston Naming Test.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Anderson KE, Brickman AM, Flynn J, Scarmeas N, Van Heertum R, Sackeim H, Stern Y. Impairment of nonverbal recognition in Alzheimer disease: A PET O-15 study. Neurology. 2007;69(1):32–41. - PubMed
    1. Bangert M, Peschel T, Schlaug G, Rotte M, Drescher D, Hinrichs H, Altenmuller E. Shared networks for auditory and motor processing in professional pianists: Evidence from fMRI conjunction. Neuroimage. 2006;30(3):917–926. - PubMed
    1. Barwick J, Valentine E, West R, Wilding J. Relations between reading and musical abilities. British Journal of Educational Psychology. 1989;59(Pt 2):253–257. - PubMed
    1. Benton AL, Hamsher K, Sivan AB. Multilingual Aphasia Examination. AJA Associates; Iowa City, IA: 1994.
    1. Bialystok E, Craik FI, Freedman M. Bilingualism as a protection against the onset of symptoms of dementia. Neuropsychologia. 2007;45(2):459–464. - PubMed