Music-Based Multitasking Training Improves Cognition & Mental Health

Developed in the early 1900s, music-based multitasking training is a specific regimen which has been shown to be effective in improving gait and reducing falls.  Melany Hars, from Geneva University Hospitals (Switzerland), and colleagues studied 134 men and women, average age 75 years, who were all at increased risk for falls but who did not live in a nursing home or other facility. These subjects were randomly divided into a study group that attended hour-long music-based multitasking sessions once a week for 25 weeks, or a comparison group that just kept up their normal lifestyles and did not attend training sessions.  At the beginning of the study, both groups underwent assessments of mental function and mood. After six months, the 66 adults who participated in the music training sessions showed improved cognitive function, particularly on a test of their degree of sensitivity to interference, and decreased anxiety, as compared to the group that had not done the training.