Music Engagement As a Source of Cognitive Reserve

Overview

Journal Am J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen

Publisher Sage Publications

Specialty Neurology

Date 2023 Nov 23

PMID 37993973

Authors

Lee Wolff

Yixue Quan

Gemma Perry

William Forde Thompson

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Music engagement is a ubiquitous activity that is thought to have cognitive benefits for the rapidly aging population. In the absence of robust treatment approaches for many age-related and neuropathological health issues, interest has emerged surrounding lifestyle-enriching activities, like exercise and music engagement, to build cognitive reserve across the lifespan and preserve neurocognitive function in older adults. The present review evaluates evidence of neurocognitive preservation arising from lifelong music engagement with respect to the cognitive reserve hypothesis. We collated a body of neuroimaging, behavioral and epidemiological evidence to adjudicate the benefits of music engagement for cognitive reserve. The findings suggest that music engagement should be considered in tandem with other well-established cognitive reserve proxies as a contributor to differential clinical outcomes in older populations at risk of age-related and neuropathological cognitive decline.

Citing Articles

Speech-in-noise, psychosocial, and heart rate variability outcomes of group singing or audiobook club interventions for older adults with unaddressed hearing loss: A SingWell Project multisite, randomized controlled trial, registered report protocol.

Lo C, Rich Zendel B, Baskent D, Boyle C, Coffey E, Gagne N PLoS One. 2024; 19(12):e0314473.

PMID: 39630812 PMC: 11616889. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0314473.

References

Giacosa C, Karpati F, Foster N, Penhune V, Hyde K . Dance and music training have different effects on white matter diffusivity in sensorimotor pathways. Neuroimage. 2016; 135:273-86. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.04.048. View

Okely J, Overy K, Deary I . Experience of Playing a Musical Instrument and Lifetime Change in General Cognitive Ability: Evidence From the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936. Psychol Sci. 2022; 33(9):1495-1508. DOI: 10.1177/09567976221092726. View

Patel A . Can nonlinguistic musical training change the way the brain processes speech? The expanded OPERA hypothesis. Hear Res. 2013; 308:98-108. DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2013.08.011. View

Stern Y . Cognitive reserve in ageing and Alzheimer's disease. Lancet Neurol. 2012; 11(11):1006-12. PMC: 3507991. DOI: 10.1016/S1474-4422(12)70191-6. View

Moore E, Schaefer R, Bastin M, Roberts N, Overy K . Can musical training influence brain connectivity? Evidence from diffusion tensor MRI. Brain Sci. 2014; 4(2):405-27. PMC: 4101485. DOI: 10.3390/brainsci4020405. View

Cheng L, Chiu Y, Lin Y, Li W, Hong T, Yang C . Long-term musical training induces white matter plasticity in emotion and language networks. Hum Brain Mapp. 2022; 44(1):5-17. PMC: 9783470. DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26054. View

Schneider L, Gosse L, Montgomery M, Wehmeier M, Villringer A, Fritz T . Components of Active Music Interventions in Therapeutic Settings-Present and Future Applications. Brain Sci. 2022; 12(5). PMC: 9139247. DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12050622. View

Balbag M, Pedersen N, Gatz M . Playing a Musical Instrument as a Protective Factor against Dementia and Cognitive Impairment: A Population-Based Twin Study. Int J Alzheimers Dis. 2014; 2014:836748. PMC: 4269311. DOI: 10.1155/2014/836748. View

Zhu Q, Bao A, Swaab D . Activation of the Brain to Postpone Dementia: A Concept Originating from Postmortem Human Brain Studies. Neurosci Bull. 2019; 35(2):253-266. PMC: 6426905. DOI: 10.1007/s12264-019-00340-5. View

10.

Vollmann H, Ragert P, Conde V, Villringer A, Classen J, Witte O . Instrument specific use-dependent plasticity shapes the anatomical properties of the corpus callosum: a comparison between musicians and non-musicians. Front Behav Neurosci. 2014; 8:245. PMC: 4100438. DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00245. View

11.

Arafa A, Eshak E, Shirai K, Iso H, Kondo K . Engaging in musical activities and the risk of dementia in older adults: A longitudinal study from the Japan gerontological evaluation study. Geriatr Gerontol Int. 2021; 21(6):451-457. DOI: 10.1111/ggi.14152. View

12.

Mansens D, Deeg D, Comijs H . The association between singing and/or playing a musical instrument and cognitive functions in older adults. Aging Ment Health. 2017; 22(8):964-971. DOI: 10.1080/13607863.2017.1328481. View

13.

Ferrari C, Xu W, Wang H, Winblad B, Sorbi S, Qiu C . How can elderly apolipoprotein E ε4 carriers remain free from dementia?. Neurobiol Aging. 2012; 34(1):13-21. DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2012.03.003. View

14.

Berkes M, Bialystok E . Bilingualism as a Contributor to Cognitive Reserve: What it Can do and What it Cannot do. Am J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen. 2022; 37:15333175221091417. PMC: 10581104. DOI: 10.1177/15333175221091417. View

15.

Hanna-Pladdy B, MacKay A . The relation between instrumental musical activity and cognitive aging. Neuropsychology. 2011; 25(3):378-86. PMC: 4354683. DOI: 10.1037/a0021895. View

16.

Hanna-Pladdy B, Gajewski B . Recent and past musical activity predicts cognitive aging variability: direct comparison with general lifestyle activities. Front Hum Neurosci. 2012; 6:198. PMC: 3400047. DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2012.00198. View

17.

Miendlarzewska E, Trost W . How musical training affects cognitive development: rhythm, reward and other modulating variables. Front Neurosci. 2014; 7:279. PMC: 3957486. DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2013.00279. View

18.

Hughes T, Chang C, Vander Bilt J, Ganguli M . Engagement in reading and hobbies and risk of incident dementia: the MoVIES project. Am J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen. 2010; 25(5):432-8. PMC: 2911991. DOI: 10.1177/1533317510368399. View

19.

Sutcliffe R, Du K, Ruffman T . Music Making and Neuropsychological Aging: A Review. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2020; 113:479-491. DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.03.026. View

20.

Schneider C, Hunter E, Bardach S . Potential Cognitive Benefits From Playing Music Among Cognitively Intact Older Adults: A Scoping Review. J Appl Gerontol. 2018; 38(12):1763-1783. DOI: 10.1177/0733464817751198. View