Altenstein, Slawek

Bartels, Claudia

Buerger, Katharina

Böttcher, Adriana

Dechent, Peter

Dobisch, Laura

Düzel, Emrah

Ewers, Michael

Fliessbach, Klaus

Freiesleben, Silka Dawn

Frommann, Ingo

Gaubert, Malo

Haynes, John Dylan

Höppner, Angela

Janowitz, Daniel

Jessen, Frank

Kempermann, Gerd

Kilimann, Ingo

Kleineidam, Luca

Köbe, Theresa

Laske, Christoph

Maier, Franziska

Metzger, Coraline

Munk, Matthias H J

Perneczky, Robert

Peters, Oliver

Priller, Josef

Rauchmann, Boris-Stephan

Roy, Nina

Röske, Sandra

Scheffler, Klaus

Schneider, Anja

Spottke, Annika

Teipel, Stefan J

Wagner, Michael

Wiltfang, Jens

Wirth, Miranka

Wolfsgruber, Steffen

Yakupov, Renat

Zarucha, Alexis

English

Regular musical activity as a complex multimodal lifestyle activity is proposed to be protective against age-related cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease. This cross-sectional study investigated the association and interplay between musical instrument playing during life, multi-domain cognitive abilities and brain morphology in older adults (OA) from the DZNE-Longitudinal Cognitive Impairment and Dementia Study (DELCODE) study. Participants reporting having played a musical instrument across three life periods ( n = 70) were compared to controls without a history of musical instrument playing ( n = 70), well-matched for reserve proxies of education, intelligence, socioeconomic status and physical activity. Participants with musical activity outperformed controls in global cognition, working memory, executive functions, language, and visuospatial abilities, with no effects seen for learning and memory. The musically active group had greater gray matter volume in the somatosensory area, but did not differ from controls in higher-order frontal, temporal, or hippocampal volumes. However, the association between gray matter volume in distributed frontal-to-temporal regions and cognitive abilities was enhanced in participants with musical activity compared to controls. We show that playing a musical instrument during life relates to better late-life cognitive abilities and greater brain capacities in OA. Musical activity may serve as a multimodal enrichment strategy that could help preserve cognitive and brain health in late life. Longitudinal and interventional studies are needed to support this notion. </p

Edinburgh Research Explorer

Musical Activity During Life Is Associated With Multi-Domain Cognitive and Brain Benefits in Older Adults

https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/files/301695945/fpsyg_13_945709.pdf

Musical Activity During Life Is Associated With Multi-Domain Cognitive and Brain Benefits in Older Adults

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