Singing and playing instruments promise better brain health
Dasha Shleyeva performing a sound bath for Medicinal Media
By Dr. Nsisong MPH FIMC
A few minutes on the piano, guitar, harmonica, or any other instrument can create pleasure for you and your listeners. Music can boost your mood, help you work, and cheer you up. Now modern science shows it goes beyond those pleasures to provide health benefits for your brain too.
Music has been used to soothe, cheer, and motivate for ages. For years, the positive effects of playing instruments on our brain health have been studied. Scientists found that playing an instrument can improve mood, increase concentration and improve quality of life. A new study shows that playing instruments also has marker benefits for brain health in older adults.
What recent research shows
In the study, researchers examined 1107 older adults for their ability to carry out tasks of reasoning, memory, and problem-solving. They found that playing an instrument was linked with better memory and better brain function. They also found singing was linked with better brain function and they concluded that engaging with music throughout your life was a great way to keep your brain function optimal all through life.
The study also found that keyboard or brass instrument players had a better memory while woodwind instrument players were better at goal-setting tasks. Having more musical ability such as being able to read musical notation was linked with better memory for tasks involving numbers. But, interestingly, there was no benefit from playing multiple instruments over playing just one.
Apply this to everyday life
It is well known also that in instruments where your hands and feet are doing different things at the same time, more activations take place throughout our nervous system. This happens the most when playing the drums or the organ (the piano is great too, but instead of three pedals, an organ has an entire keyboard at your feet!). On these two instruments, both hands and both feet are playing independently of each other, says Mariana Rizkallah, head music therapist at North London Music Therapy CIC. She also notes that playing such instruments helps your motor skills and nervous system.
Existing research shows that you can get the best from instruments if you begin playing at a young age, it improves language, verbal ability, and brain function. But there are plenty of benefits you get from learning to play instruments or sing at any age.
It's never too late to learn anything, including how to play an instrument. Learning to play an instrument could lead to new friendships, social opportunities, and perhaps a second life with that instrument, says Guari Khurana MD, a psychiatrist with the Yale University School of Medicine.
Another way playing an instrument helps your brain health is that it helps reduce your risk of conditions such as Alzheimer's or other types of dementia as you grow older. Studies involving twins showed that those who were more musical were 64% less likely to develop dementia. The researchers advised that playing musical instruments should be part of every adult's routine as they grow older.
Your risk of getting dementia increases as you get older. By 65, the risk is about 2 in 100 but over 90 it’s as high as 33 in 100. Along with playing instruments, other ways to protect your brain function include: exercise regularly, manage your blood sugar and pressure, sleep well, quit smoking, avoid drinking in excess, eat healthy, and treat hearing loss. Learning new things and physical touch also help, explained Dr. Khurana.
How often should you play to get the benefits? That depends on how you like to practice, said Rizkallah. “Professional musicians practice for many hours a day to maintain expert standards, and there's a myth too that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to master an instrument. But, like cultivating all good habits, little and often seems to be best for gaining mental benefits,” she added.
A study from the University of Bath shows that an hour a day of musical practice can deliver immense benefits. Their study showed that after taking piano lessons for an hour over 11 weeks, participants had less stress, anxiety, and depression. The study also found that participants developed an enhanced ability to understand sight and sound during the same period.
For the best benefits, you have to actively engage in making music either with an instrument or with your voice. Passive engagement such as listening to music hasn’t shown the same effect. But that doesn’t mean listening to music is useless. “While playing an instrument is particularly effective on positive brain activity, listening to music also has benefits too. It can reduce anxiety, lower heart rate and blood pressure, and even improve sleep,” said Rizkallah.
Playing a musical instrument is a habit that heals and protects you in many ways, especially as we grow. Dr. Khurana said, “Playing an instrument could help you heal or take care of yourself, both mentally and in your physical body.”
Dr. Nsisong Asanga is a physician and freelance writing consultant with work published by WebMD, VeryWell Health, Healthline, SELF, Parents, and other platforms. You can follow her on Twitter @Ncbassey and on LinkedIn.
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