Playing Music to Help Prevent Dementia

Wichita Chiropractor weekly health news alert:
This article discusses another music and dementia connection: instrumental music playing, even as a beginner, might help shield the brain from dementia related ailments.

Researchers had 70 peo­ple ages 60 to 83 per­form a vari­ety of tests to mea­sure visu­ospa­tial mem­ory, abil­ity to name objects, the brain’s abil­ity to adapt to new infor­ma­tion […] those who had engaged in musi­cal activ­ity for 10 years or longer scored sub­stan­tially bet­ter than those with no musi­cal activ­ity in their past. The longer peo­ple play instru­ments, the more ben­e­fits they may derive. All were ama­teurs who had started play­ing when they were 10 years old. The rela­tion­ship between cog­ni­tive skills and years of musi­cal activ­ity held up whether the musi­cians were cur­rently involved in mak­ing music or not.

Based on the article this research reveals a connection between musical instrument playing and cognitive ability, which doesn’t suggest a causation effect. It’s neither absolute as to just why creating music is like confectionery to the brain. There are parts of the brain of a pro musician that are different than a non-pro.  This evidence suggests neuroplastic changes in the brain, triggered by playing a musical instrument. This alteration appears to be partly responsible  for brain/cognitive function and also be neuroprotective.
Read More