{"id":622153,"date":"2026-05-04T02:57:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T02:57:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/622153\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T02:57:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T02:57:17","slug":"playing-music-can-help-aging-brain-health-study-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/622153\/","title":{"rendered":"Playing Music Can Help Aging Brain Health, Study Says"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re looking to bolster your cognitive abilities and keep your mind sharp throughout your lifetime, you may want to pick up a musical instrument. A 2024 study published in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry<\/a> found that playing is good for your brain health as you age. <\/p>\n

Researchers examined 1,107 people in the U.K. over the age of 40 with an average age of 67.82. Participants self-reported their musical experience via a questionnaire and took part in a cognitive assessment, which tested their working memory and executive function. Researchers then studied how four aspects of musicality \u2014 listening to music, playing an instrument, singing and self-reported ability \u2014 impacted cognitive behavior and compared that to people who did not have a musical background.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis large-scale, longitudinal study supports previous research indicating that musical training supports cognitive health by improving memory and lowering risk for age-related cognitive decline,\u201d Dr. Gary Small<\/a>, a memory, brain and aging expert at Hackensack Meridian Health in New Jersey, told HuffPost via email. Small is not affiliated with the study.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth noting that 83% of participants were women, so it\u2019s not totally indicative of the general population. Another caveat is that some data was self-reported, said Dr. Arman Fesharaki-Zadeh<\/a>, a behavioral neurologist and neuropsychiatrist at Yale Medicine in Connecticut, who is not affiliated with the study. Self-reporting leaves room for error; people may misremember their musical background or misunderstand a question. <\/p>\n

Playing music largely involves your executive function, so it\u2019s natural for folks with a musical background to see an improvement in the brain, said Dr. <\/a>Golnaz Yadollahikhales<\/a>, a neurologist at Cedars-Sinai in California, who is not affiliated with the study.<\/p>\n

Your executive function refers to your \u201cability to multitask and organize oneself, and being able to sequence and prioritize,\u201d Fesharaki-Zadeh explained. Additionally, playing music keeps you cognitively active, meaning it challenges your brain.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing cognitively active throughout one\u2019s life can have a protective role\u201d in brain health, Fesharaki-Zadeh continued. This is known as your cognitive reservoir (or cognitive reserve) and activities like playing music can build this up. <\/p>\n

Yadollahikhales noted that she\u2019s seen the study\u2019s findings in her day-to-day work, too. People with a good cognitive reserve perform well even when their brain imaging has signs of atrophy. Brain atrophy is linked to issues like dementia and aphasia, according to the Cleveland Clinic<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe patients of mine who were musicians or who were still playing music at the time of diagnosis would show better cognitive function than what was expected to be seen based on their structural imaging findings,\u201d Yadollahikhales said.<\/p>\n

\"Knowing<\/p>\n

Luis Alvarez via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Knowing how to play keyboard-based instruments \u2014 like the piano \u2014 benefitted brain health most.<\/p>\n

What This All Means For You<\/p>\n

You may want to consider dabbling in music. The research and the experts who spoke to HuffPost were all pretty clear that playing musical instruments and singing can be beneficial for your long-term cognition.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re ready to start some lessons and are open to the process, consider trying specific instruments. The study found that playing keyboard-based instruments, like the piano or organ, had the biggest benefit on memory and executive function, study author Anne Corbett told Newsweek<\/a>, followed by brass and woodwind instruments. <\/p>\n

The social aspect of music may be beneficial for your brain, too. Corbett also told Newsweek that the singers in the study had better complex task completion as they aged. But the study noted that the benefits that come with singing may also have to do with the social connections that are formed when singing with a choir or in a group setting.<\/p>\n

\u201cMusic doesn\u2019t usually happen in isolation,\u201d Fesharaki-Zadeh said. Think about it: Music is often played in a group, practiced with a teacher or performed for other people. That social interaction is one of those protective factors for brain health, he added.<\/p>\n

Bottom line: You\u2019re never too old to start learning and challenging your brain.<\/p>\n

\u201cOverall, it is recommended that people start building their cognitive reserve early in life,\u201d Yadollahikhales said. \u201cThis can be achieved by playing music and games such as puzzles, reading books and being physically active … also, as mentioned in this study as well, higher education can affect cognitive reserve positively.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even if it\u2019s been years or even decades since you\u2019ve challenged your brain to something new, hope is not lost. \u201cWe\u2019re never too old to learn, I think that\u2019s a known concept,\u201d Fesharaki-Zadeh said. Benefits can be seen whether you\u2019re 65 or 18.<\/p>\n

Neurogenesis, the forming of new connections and new cells in the brain, is often not as robust for someone in their mid-70s when compared to someone, say, learning at a new job in their mid-20s. But by learning music (or by learning anything new) you activate this process again, Fesharaki-Zadeh added.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, let\u2019s say somebody doesn\u2019t have dementia [and] they\u2019re wondering what are the ways that they can protect their brains against dementia \u2014 music could be potentially a viable strategy because it does incorporate a lot of the other factors such as learning, emotional well-being, social connections \u2015 and they\u2019re all great for the brain,\u201d Fesharaki-Zadeh said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to keep in mind that while you can control certain risk factors, you can\u2019t control your genetics.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough this study demonstrates that musicality provides a significant cognitive benefit, other non-genetic … and genetic risk factors contribute to the risk of cognitive decline,\u201d Small said. \u201cSo, even highly successful people with healthy lifestyles will develop dementia if they have a strong genetic predisposition.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, as Yadollahikhales mentioned above, if you build your cognitive reserve throughout your life, you\u2019ll be better off if you do develop cognitive impairment or dementia. Studies \u201chave shown that being cognitively, socially and physically active after the development of cognitive impairment and dementia can slow down the progression of the disease,\u201d Yadollahikhales said.<\/p>\n

So go ahead and pick up that guitar \u2015 or whatever instrument makes you happy.<\/p>\n

The original version of this story was published on HuffPost at an earlier date.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you\u2019re looking to bolster your cognitive abilities and keep your mind sharp throughout your lifetime, you may…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":622154,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[2594,4994,97,269659,216],"class_list":["post-622153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-aging","tag-brain-health","tag-health","tag-living-well","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=622153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/622154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=622153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=622153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=622153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}