I don't want to get dementia.
I really, really, really don't want to get dementia. Almost any other way to die would be acceptable to me. Just, please, not that.
And now it looks like I'll be learning to play an instrument too – although whether I end up with piano, saxophone, flute or the Cross Granger kangaroo pouch instrument (yes, it's a thing) is another matter.
Evidence is mounting that learning an instrument and continuing to play it makes your brain stronger, faster and healthier – and can significantly reduce your risk of dementia.
A new study of 1,100 older adults, with an average age of 68, “shows that playing a musical instrument is associated with better working memory and executive function,” according to researchers from the Universities of Exeter, Brunel and London. “We also found positive associations between singing and executive function, and between overall musical ability and working memory,” they added.
The researchers found that results were better among people who currently played an instrument compared to those who learned to play it as children but did not keep up with it. Those who continued to play usually did so for at least two to three hours a week.
“Comparing participants who currently play an instrument with those who have played it previously showed significantly better performance on two of the three measures of working memory… and composite working memory… in people who are currently engaged in music,” the researchers said.
The research appears in the latest issue of the Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.
This study is not surprising: there is research dating back several decades. Other studies have found, for example, that adults who played a musical instrument at some point in their lives typically performed better on cognitive tests than those who did not, with “global cognition, working memory, executive functions, language, and visual ability.” “Spatial” is better. abilities.” The musicians had better average long-term, short-term, and working memory than the non-musicians.
The brains of professional musicians even look different under an MRI, according to research in the Journal of Neuroscience and the Journal of Human Brain Mapping. Active musicians may actually have “younger” brains. An overview of the research shows.
Brain scans look different depending on what type of instrument a person plays, says Seneca Block, a music therapist and assistant professor of psychiatry at Case Western Reserve University. “You can see the difference between a pianist and a string instrument player,” he says.
Not everyone is convinced. Scientists point out that many of these studies simply show correlation, not causation. These skeptics say that even if musicians score better, on average, than non-musicians on various tests, that does not prove that playing an instrument improves the brain. It may simply mean that people with better minds end up playing musical instruments.
It's a reasonable point.
But that's why music theory wins.
First, not every study is correlational. In this trial, for example, people aged 62 to 72 were given an hour of piano practice per week for six months. They were also instructed to practice for half an hour every day. At the end of the period, MRIs showed actual physical differences in their brains compared to the brains of people in the control group. A similar study, in which a group of older adults also received piano training for six months, found that those who learned to play the piano showed an increase in gray matter in five different areas of the brain. Another study found that just four months of training — this time on a keyboard harmonica — had an effect on the brains of people in their 60s, 70s and 80s who had never played an instrument before. One study even found an effect after just two weeks of music lessons.
Then there was a longitudinal study that followed more than 350 Scottish people from childhood until their 80s. Not only did it distinguish between those who had learned an instrument and those who had not, it was also able to compare cognitive tests taken by participants at age 11 and at age 70. Bottom line: Music training made a difference. The researchers found that “there was a small, statistically significant positive association between the experience of playing a musical instrument and change in general cognitive ability between the ages of 11 and 70 years.” The more training a person has, the better his or her cognitive performance.
Perhaps the most notable study was one that included pairs of twins aged 65 or older in Sweden. The researchers looked at 157 cases where one twin had cognitive impairment or dementia and the other did not. About a quarter of the pairs were identical, and the remainder were fraternal.
They then looked at which participants played the piano, flute, double bass, guitar, trombone or didgeridoo (well, maybe).
minimum? The twin who learned a musical instrument was less likely — much less likely — to develop cognitive impairment or dementia. “Compared with their non-musician twin, musicians who played an instrument in adulthood had a 64% lower likelihood of developing dementia or cognitive impairment,” the researchers found.
Later.
A fundamentalist might argue that this conclusion is also open to question. How do we know that the twin who took up music didn't have a healthier brain to begin with? Well, we can't know for sure, but remember that twins share 50% or 100% of their DNA. Another study of twins also confirmed what we might have intuitively guessed: There are many factors that influence whether or not we end up playing an instrument, most of which are random.
I decided to apply the philosophical principle known as Pascal's Wager, named after the 17th century French philosopher Blaise Pascal, who decided that it made sense for him to believe in God. He believed that belief in God exposed him to much less danger after death than atheism. He asked himself how much each option would cost him? What are the downside risks?
It would not make sense for me to put off learning a new instrument until there is conclusive evidence that doing so may help prevent dementia. By the time this evidence arrives, if it ever does, it may be too late for me. What's the worst that could happen? I'll be wasting time learning to play music, time that others will spend constructively watching quality TV shows like Stamp Wars and The Real Housewives of Poughkeepsie.
Bring on the music.
