Longitudinal effects of choir singing on aging cognition and wellbeing: a two-year follow-up study

IntroductionWhile increasing evidence points toward the benefits of musical activities in promoting cognitive and emotional well-being in older adults, more longitudinal studies are needed to establish their long-term effects and uncover the mechanisms through which musical activities affect well-being. Most previous research has focused on instrumental musical activities, but little is currently known about the long-term effects of singing, even though neuroimaging evidence suggests that it is a versatile activity for the brain, involving a multitude of neural processes that are potentially beneficial for well-being.MethodsWe conducted a 2-year follow-up study to assess aging-related changes in cognitive functioning and emotional and social well-being with self-report questionnaires and standardized tests in 107 older adult choir singers and 62 demographically matched non-singers. Data were collected at baseline (T1), and at 1-year (T2) and 2-year (T3) follow-ups using questionnaires on subjective cognitive functioning, depression, social engagement, and quality of life (QOL) in all participants and neuropsychological tests in a subgroup of participants (45 choir singers and 41 non-singers).ResultsThe results of linear mixed model analysis showed that in verbal flexibility (phonemic fluency task), the choir singers had higher scores already at T1 and showed no change over time, whereas the non-singers showed enhancement from T1 to T3. Furthermore, active retrieval of word knowledge (WAIS-IV Vocabulary task) showed significantly different changes from T1 to T2 between the groups (enhancement in choir singers and decline in non-singers), however lacking significant change within groups. Similar opposite trajectories of QOL related to social inclusion and safety of the environment (WHOQOL-Bref Environmental subscale) were significant from T1 to T3, but these changes were not significant within groups or at each timepoint. Within the choir singers, shorter experience in choir singing was associated with greater improvement in the vocabulary task over the follow-up period, suggesting that initiation of choir singing at older age induces some verbal benefits. There were no group differences in any other questionnaire or neuropsychological measure over time.DiscussionIn conclusion, our results suggest that choir singing at older age is associated with a sustained enhancement of phonemic fluency, while the effects on other verbal skills and quality of life are less clear

Hematologisten syöpien ilmaantuvuus lisääntyy mutta ennuste paranee

Teema : Hematologiset syövä

Resting-state language network neuroplasticity in post-stroke music listening: A randomized controlled trial

Recent evidence suggests that post-stroke vocal music listening can aid language recovery, but the network-level functional neuroplasticity mechanisms of this effect are unknown. Here, we sought to determine if improved language recovery observed after post-stroke listening to vocal music is driven by changes in longitudinal resting-state functional connectivity within the language network. Using data from a single-blind randomized controlled trial on stroke patients (N = 38), we compared the effects of daily listening to self-selected vocal music, instrumental music and audio books on changes of the resting-state functional connectivity within the language network and their correlation to improved language skills and verbal memory during the first 3 months post-stroke. From acute to 3-month stage, the vocal music and instrumental music groups increased functional connectivity between a cluster comprising the left inferior parietal areas and the language network more than the audio book group. However, the functional connectivity increase correlated with improved verbal memory only in the vocal music group cluster. This study shows that listening to vocal music post-stroke promotes recovery of verbal memory by inducing changes in longitudinal functional connectivity in the language network. Our results conform to the variable neurodisplacement theory underpinning aphasia recovery.Peer reviewe

Music-based interventions ­in pain management

Vertaisarvioitu. English summary.Peer reviewe

What makes music memorable? Relationships between acoustic musical features and music-evoked emotions and memories in older adults

Background and objectives Music has a unique capacity to evoke both strong emotions and vivid autobiographical memories. Previous music information retrieval (MIR) studies have shown that the emotional experience of music is influenced by a combination of musical features, including tonal, rhythmic, and loudness features. Here, our aim was to explore the relationship between music-evoked emotions and music-evoked memories and how musical features (derived with MIR) can predict them both. Methods Healthy older adults (N = 113, age ≥ 60 years) participated in a listening task in which they rated a total of 140 song excerpts comprising folk songs and popular songs from 1950s to 1980s on five domains measuring the emotional (valence, arousal, emotional intensity) and memory (familiarity, autobiographical salience) experience of the songs. A set of 24 musical features were extracted from the songs using computational MIR methods. Principal component analyses were applied to reduce multicollinearity, resulting in six core musical components, which were then used to predict the behavioural ratings in multiple regression analyses. Results All correlations between behavioural ratings were positive and ranged from moderate to very high (r = 0.46–0.92). Emotional intensity showed the highest correlation to both autobiographical salience and familiarity. In the MIR data, three musical components measuring salience of the musical pulse (Pulse strength), relative strength of high harmonics (Brightness), and fluctuation in the frequencies between 200–800 Hz (Low-mid) predicted both music-evoked emotions and memories. Emotional intensity (and valence to a lesser extent) mediated the predictive effect of the musical components on music-evoked memories. Conclusions The results suggest that music-evoked emotions are strongly related to music-evoked memories in healthy older adults and that both music-evoked emotions and memories are predicted by the same core musical features.Peer reviewe

Cancer Incidence and Mortality in the Oldest Old: a Nationwide Study in Finland

The world's population is aging rapidly. This study reports the burden of cancer in the oldest old (≥85 years) in Finland in 1953-2017 and estimates age-specific cancer rates in the old population (65-99 years) in 1988-2017. The Finnish Cancer Registry provided data on all cancer diagnoses, cancer deaths and other deaths in cancer patients in Finland in 1953-2017. Between 1953-1957 and 2013-2017, the proportion of incident cancers in those aged ≥85 years increased from 1.5% to 9.6% (597 to 15,360 new cases), and in 2013-2017, more new cancers were diagnosed at age ≥85 years than age <50 years. Cancer incidence and excess mortality attributable to cancer peaked at age 85-94 years and declined subsequently, whereas cancer-specific mortality continued to increase or plateaued. Due to demographic changes, the number of new cancers in the oldest old has increased substantially in Finland, and currently, nearly one in 10 cancers are diagnosed in this age group. The increasing cancer burden in the oldest old poses a major challenge for healthcare and needs to be addressed in designing clinical research and reporting of cancer registries. In old populations with competing risks of death, we propose excess cancer mortality as a measure of cancer-related mortality.Peer reviewe

Musiikki-interventiot kivun hoidon osana

Kivun hoitoon tarvitaan kustannustehokkaita ja helposti yksilöitäviä lääkkeettömiä menetelmiä. Musiikki on edullinen ja helposti saatavilla oleva hoidon elementti, joka on yksilöitävissä kuntoutuksellisiin tarpeisiin. Musiikin on havaittu tukevan esimerkiksi toimenpiteen jälkeisen, kroonisen tai syöpään liittyvän kivun hoitoa. Musiikin hyödyt perustuvat todennäköisesti useisiin samanaikaisiin mekanismeihin

Efficacy of a multicomponent singing intervention on communication and psychosocial functioning in chronic aphasia: A randomized controlled crossover trial

The ability to produce words through singing can be preserved in severe aphasia, but the benefits of group-based singing rehabilitation in aphasia are largely unknown. Our aim was to determine the efficacy of a multicomponent singing intervention on communication and speech production, emotional-social functioning and caregiver well-being in aphasia. Fifty-four patients with acquired brain injury and chronic aphasia and their family caregivers (n = 43) were recruited. Using a crossover randomized controlled trial design, participants were randomized to two groups who received a 4-month singing intervention either during the first or second half of the study in addition to standard care. The intervention comprised weekly group-based training (including choir singing and group-level melodic intonation therapy) and tablet-assisted singing training at home. At baseline, 5- and 9-month stages, patients were assessed with tests and questionnaires on communication and speech production, mood, social functioning, and quality of life and family caregivers with questionnaires on caregiver burden. All participants who participated in the baseline measurement (n = 50) were included in linear mixed model analyses. Compared with standard care, the singing intervention improved everyday communication and responsive speech production from baseline to 5-month stage, and these changes were sustained also longitudinally (baseline to 9-month stage). Additionally, the intervention enhanced patients’ social participation and reduced caregiver burden. This study provides novel evidence that group-based multicomponent singing training can enhance communication and spoken language production in chronic aphasia as well as improve psychosocial wellbeing in patients and caregivers.Peer reviewe