Regularly listening to music is linked to a lower risk of developing dementia, according to a new study.
In the study, published in October, researchers looked at data spanning a decade and involving more than 10,000 relatively healthy people, aged 70 and older, in Australia. People who listened to music most days slashed their risk of developing dementia by 39 percent compared with those who did not regularly listen to music, the study found.
Regularly listening to music is linked to a lower risk of developing dementia, according to a new study.
In the study, published in October, researchers looked at data spanning a decade and involving more than 10,000 relatively healthy people, aged 70 and older, in Australia. People who listened to music most days slashed their risk of developing dementia by 39 percent compared with those who did not regularly listen to music, the study found.
The ASPREE Longitudinal Study of Older Persons followed participants to investigate what factors are associated with the risks of developing various diseases — and how much lifestyle changes could make a difference.
“Music was one of the areas we were interested in,” said Joanne Ryan, head of the Biological Neuropsychiatry and Dementia research unit in the School of Public Health at Monash University and the senior researcher on the new study.
Researchers collected data annually from participants and their medical providers, and cognitive function assessments were conducted by trained staff.
They found that of the 10,893 participants in the study, the 7,030 who said they listen to music most days had the biggest drop in dementia risk compared with people who were not as frequent music listeners. The study did not specify what kind of music.
“They also had a decreased risk of experiencing more general cognitive decline,” Ryan said. “And we also found that in that time period, they performed better, consistently better, on the tasks of memory and also on a global cognitive function test.”
Ryan pointed out that this is an observational study, and the research can’t determine if listening to music caused the decreased risk in cognitive decline. There might be other factors associated with listening to music that account for the difference. But she found the results striking.
“If we do consider our findings in light of other research that has been done,” Ryan said, “we think there could be a real direct link.” Ryan pointed to the large body of research that has shown that music can boost our moods and stimulate a number of areas of our brains, which is beneficial for cognitive function.
“I have started myself listening to music more than I was,” Ryan said. “I would encourage people to be listening to music, because if it’s something they take pleasure from and it’s also stimulating their brain, why not?”
At Princeton University’s Music Cognition Lab, researchers have conducted studies looking at what happens to people’s brains when they listen to music. They’ve found that various parts of the brain are activated, including motor areas, sensory areas, the regions that process emotions and those involved in imagining or daydreaming. This could be the key to what makes music powerful for boosting brain health.
“One of the things that seems to be really important is just getting all those areas to talk to each other in meaningful ways,” said Elizabeth Margulis, director of the lab and a trained pianist who wasn’t involved in this new study. “That’s something music is exceptionally good at doing.”
Margulis pointed out that the study’s finding applies to listening to music as well as playing it. There was slightly less benefit associated with regularly playing music, with a 35 percent reduction in the risk of dementia, though the researchers suspect that’s because it’s a smaller group of people than those who regularly listen to music.
A takeaway is you don’t need to learn an instrument to benefit from engaging with music, though research has shown that taking music lessons can increase gray matter in the brain, even for people who aren’t particularly skilled.
Music also has a transportive quality, Margulis said. If you listen to a song that you first heard during a certain time of life, you may find yourself transported back to that time, especially with the music you listened to in adolescence.
“That tends to be the music that people remember best and have the most memories associated with,” Margulis said. She added that adolescence often is the time when people are defining themselves, which gives that music added meaning.
This can even be seen in people who are experiencing cognitive decline or diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
“They may not even recognize themselves in a mirror, they don’t know where they are or how they got there, but you put on a song from when they were 14, and they reconnect with that self they had lost,” said neuroscientist and musician Daniel Levitin, who also wasn’t involved in the new research.
Anecdotally, Margulis said, the effect seems to remain for a while even after they listen to the music.
“They’re a little more present, a little more able to interact,” Margulis said.
Levitin has written a new book, “I Heard There Was a Secret Chord: Music as Medicine,” bringing together research about how music can be used as therapy for things including depression, pain and neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s.
“Listening to music is neuroprotective,” said Levitin, explaining that it builds resiliency and protects the brain by wiring new neural pathways. “It’s a myth that you don’t grow new neurons, and throughout the lifespan, you’re growing new pathways.”
Levitin added that while listening to music from the past can bring back memories and provide comfort, there is also a benefit to listening to new music and challenging yourself. He also encourages people to play music.
“You can start playing an instrument at any age, and you don’t need to be Herbie Hancock,” Levitin said. He recalled giving his grandmother a keyboard for her 80th birthday and watching her practice almost every day until she died at 97. Levitin said for him, playing music brings an immersive joy.
“If I’m lucky, I disappear, and the music plays me,” he said.
But he emphasized that just being around music — whether that’s listening or playing it — shows benefits. And it’s something pretty much everyone has access to.
“That’s the lovely thing,” Margulis said, on how accessible music is to everyone.
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