Listening to music can lower dementia risk by nearly 40%, new study says

This is the 78th instalment in a series on dementia, including the research into its causes and treatment, advice for carers, and stories of hope. I am listening to music as I write this: “Out of My Head” by First Aid Kit. It is an appropriate track, given the title of this series and the piece of writing I am working on. Recently, researchers from the school of public health and preventive medicine at Monash University in Australia published a study that found people who had a habit of always listening to music had a 39 per cent lower risk of developing dementia. They also scored higher in global cognition: how well you perform in all cognitive areas such as memory, attention, language and problem-solving. Professor Joanne Ryan, head of the university’s biological neuropsychiatry and dementia unit, and one of the lead study authors, explained the research. The participants were recruited, in partnership with general practitioners, as part of a larger Australian study on ageing called Aspree, for Aspirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly. None of the individuals who took part had major cognitive impairments when they first joined the study. “We asked participants about how often they listened to music,” Ryan says, whether it was daily, a few times a week or not at all. They were also asked whether they played a musical instrument, and if so, how often. This is not the first study of its kind. Earlier studies have found that listening to and playing music have a profound and multidimensional impact on the brain. This time, Ryan says, they had long-term information on a large group of people – almost 11,000 people aged 70 and older – including a rigorous assessment of their cognitive performance and development of dementia. “We saw a relationship between cognitive performance … and risk of dementia.” Music could be good for our brains for many reasons, including feeling the beat, listening to, learning and remembering the lyrics, and the associations that come with music. It is also relaxing, delivers good vibes and can make people move if they start to dance to it. That is why, Ryan says, the benefit is likely multifaceted. “It has been shown in studies using brain imaging that when we listen to music, a number of different brain regions light up and are activated. So listening to music makes our brain work, and working different areas of the brain is beneficial.” While auditory regions of the brain are stimulated when we listen to music, other areas are also involved: emotional centres like the amygdala and limbic system, memory-related areas such as the hippocampus, cognitive regions involved in attention and executive function, and even the motor cortex. Who does not move their body to the beat, tap their feet, or dance in the kitchen if nobody’s watching and First Aid Kit is belting out? “There could be direct beneficial effects through getting our mind active, like a whole brain workout, as well as indirect effects by lowering stress and anxiety, getting us up and moving, reducing … blood pressure and improving mood,” Ryan says. Studies have even found that music helps us to cope better with pain, and, given our aches and pains are exacerbated with age, that might be another reason to listen to some tunes as we get older. Another recent study found that people with depression who take part in dance interventions have the greatest benefit compared to people doing other types of exercise. Yet another found that creative experiences, including dancing, improve the function of brain networks susceptible to ageing, essentially providing an anti-ageing effect. Specific networks in the brain are activated in social settings with music, such as with dancing, recent research found. Larry Sherman, a professor of neuroscience at the Oregon Health & Science University in the US, also studies how music benefits the brain. Sherman, the author of Every Brain Needs Music: The Neuroscience of Making and Listening to Music, describes another study that examined the response of people’s brains to music while they were undergoing MRI brain imaging. The images showed something unexpected: in the auditory cortex, cells lit up in response to music but did not light up to other sounds. Our brains seem to have a unique response to music. The Monash study also found that playing an instrument was associated with a 35 per cent reduced dementia risk. Earlier studies have found that, compared to non-musicians, practising musicians have more grey matter volume in some parts of the brain and do not show the same age-related decline in overall brain volume. Ryan’s study did not examine what music people listened to, but earlier research has reached interesting conclusions. A 2021 study found that reggae produced greater activity in the auditory and motor-related brain areas compared to, say, classical or folk, probably because of the beat. The broad message is that listening to any music is deemed to be good for brain health. “This is an amazing thing that our brain is doing,” Sherman writes in his book. “It’s rewiring itself and remaking itself every time we practice music.” He says music stimulates neurogenesis, or the creation of new neurons; strengthens synapse formation, which aids messaging in the brain; and enhances myelination, which can speed up the transmission of nerve signals. Music’s ability to engage and rewire the brain, he says, is why it is so beneficial throughout our lives, from childhood to old age. Like what you read? Follow SCMP Lifestyle on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also sign up for our eNewsletter here.

Listening to music can lower dementia risk by nearly 40%, new study says

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Research shows how listening to music can both lower dementia risk and improve cognitive areas like memory, attention and problem-solving

Research shows how listening to music can both lower dementia risk and improve cognitive areas like memory, attention and problem-solving