Train the brain with music: Brain Plasticity and cognitive benefits induced by musical practice in elderly people in Germany and Switzerland
Developmental and Educational Psychology
Final Report Abstract
Making and learning music generates neuroplastic adaptations, can slow cognitive decline and improve quality of life in older people. In our largest and longest study worldwide, we investigated the effects of playing and listening to music on seniors who had never played music before. The randomized longitudinal trial in Hanover and Geneva involved 155 healthy retired older people (64-78 years). They took either piano lessons or theoretical music lessons with listening to pieces of music ("musical culture"). Over a period of 12 months, one group received piano lessons in groups of two, while the other group received theory lessons in small groups (4-6 participants). The weekly one-hour lessons were given by students from the music academies, and the participants were also asked to practice or work on music theory for around half an hour every day. The participants were examined at 4 points in time, before the start (baseline), after 6 months and after 12 months, as well as 6 months after the end of the lessons. A comprehensive battery of tests on cognitive, perceptual and motor skills, quality of life and depression was used at each measurement point. In addition, functional and structural brain data was collected using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The main result is that both, piano lessons and music theory lessons, slow down brain ageing and increase quality of life. In most cases, the effects are somewhat stronger after piano lessons than after "musical culture". After 6 months of piano lessons, it was easier to understand speech in background noise. Fine motor skills were also improved, and memory performance had increased slightly. Slight effects were also observed in executive functions. Both groups of subjects were able to improve their cognitive flexibility. The MRI data revealed a general reduction of gray matter density with an increase in neuronal density in areas of the right temporal lobe and in specific regions of the cerebellum and frontal lobe. The fiber imaging revealed a stabilization of the fornix, a projection pathway of the hippocampus that is important for memory, which decreased in the theory group. In addition, the piano group showed increased functional connectivity between auditory regions and sensorimotor regions. Overall, the study shows very convincingly that learning a musical instrument in old age is possible and contributes to live quality of seniors by improving cognition, perception and emotion and delaying brain aging. The results underline the social need for musical activities for senior citizens.
Publications
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The impact of music interventions on motor rehabilitation following stroke in elderly. Music and the Aging Brain, 407-432. Elsevier.
Altenmüller, Eckart & E., James Clara
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Train the brain with music (TBM): brain plasticity and cognitive benefits induced by musical training in elderly people in Germany and Switzerland, a study protocol for an RCT comparing musical instrumental practice to sensitization to music. BMC Geriatrics, 20(1).
James, Clara E.; Altenmüller, Eckart; Kliegel, Matthias; Krüger, Tillmann H.C.; Van De Ville, Dimitri; Worschech, Florian; Abdili, Laura; Scholz, Daniel S.; Jünemann, Kristin; Hering, Alexandra; Grouiller, Frédéric; Sinke, Christopher & Marie, Damien
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Improved Speech in Noise Perception in the Elderly After 6 Months of Musical Instruction. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 15.
Worschech, Florian; Marie, Damien; Jünemann, Kristin; Sinke, Christopher; Krüger, Tillmann H. C.; Großbach, Michael; Scholz, Daniel S.; Abdili, Laura; Kliegel, Matthias; James, Clara E. & Altenmüller, Eckart
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Evidence of cortical thickness increases in bilateral auditory brain structures following piano learning in older adults. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1513(1), 21-30.
Worschech, Florian; Altenmüller, Eckart; Jünemann, Kristin; Sinke, Christopher; Krüger, Tillmann H. C.; Scholz, Daniel S.; Müller, Cécile A. H.; Kliegel, Matthias; James, Clara E. & Marie, Damien
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Six Months of Piano Training in Healthy Elderly Stabilizes White Matter Microstructure in the Fornix, Compared to an Active Control Group. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 14.
Jünemann, Kristin; Marie, Damien; Worschech, Florian; Scholz, Daniel S.; Grouiller, Frédéric; Kliegel, Matthias; Van De Ville, Dimitri; James, Clara E.; Krüger, Tillmann H. C.; Altenmüller, Eckart & Sinke, Christopher
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Fine motor control improves in older adults after 1 year of piano lessons: Analysis of individual development and its coupling with cognition and brain structure. European Journal of Neuroscience, 57(12), 2040-2061.
Worschech, Florian; James, Clara E.; Jünemann, Kristin; Sinke, Christopher; Krüger, Tillmann H. C.; Scholz, Daniel S.; Kliegel, Matthias; Marie, Damien & Altenmüller, Eckart
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Increased functional connectivity in the right dorsal auditory stream after a full year of piano training in healthy older adults. Scientific Reports, 13(1).
Jünemann, Kristin; Engels, Anna; Marie, Damien; Worschech, Florian; Scholz, Daniel S.; Grouiller, Frédéric; Kliegel, Matthias; Van De Ville, Dimitri; Altenmüller, Eckart; Krüger, Tillmann H. C.; James, Clara E. & Sinke, Christopher
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Music interventions in 132 healthy older adults enhance cerebellar grey matter and auditory working memory, despite general brain atrophy. Neuroimage: Reports, 3(2), 100166.
Marie, Damien; Müller, Cécile A.H.; Altenmüller, Eckart; Van De Ville, Dimitri; Jünemann, Kristin; Scholz, Daniel S.; Krüger, Tillmann H.C.; Worschech, Florian; Kliegel, Matthias; Sinke, Christopher & James, Clara E.
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Acquisition of musical skills and abilities in older adults—results of 12 months of music training. BMC Geriatrics, 24(1).
Losch, Hannah; Altenmüller, Eckart; Marie, Damien; Passarotto, Edoardo; Kretschmer, Clara R.; Scholz, Daniel S.; Kliegel, Matthias; Krüger, Tillmann H. C.; Sinke, Christopher; Jünemann, Kristin; James, Clara E. & Worschech, Florian
