Music Training Boosts Cognitive Function

In that a growing body of evidence suggests that learning to play an instrument and continuing to practice and play it may offer mental benefits throughout life. Brenda Hanna-Pladdy, from Emory University (Georgia, USA), and colleagues studied 70 musicians and non-musicians, ages 59 to 80 years, who were evaluated by neuropsychological tests and surveyed about general lifestyle activities. The musicians scored higher on tests of mental acuity, visual-spatial judgment, verbal memory and recall, and motor dexterity. The team also found that sustaining musical activity during advanced age may enhance thinking ability, neutralizing any negative impact of age and even lack of education. Writing that: “Recent and past musical activity, but not general lifestyle activities, predicted variability across both verbal and visuospatial domains in aging,” the study authors submit that: “These findings …  imply that early age of musical acquisition, sustained and maintained during advanced age, may enhance cognitive functions and buffer age and education influences.”