Researchers from the University of Geneva have shown that playing the piano and actively listening to music slows down cognitive decline. Specifically, an increase in gray matter has been observed in certain regions of the brain, involved in memory in particular. Explanations.
Music would be able to slow down age-related cognitive decline. This is what a study by the University of Geneva (Unige) has just shown, the results of which were recently published in the journal NeuroImage: Report.
We know that throughout life, the brain changes. Its shape, its connections evolve according to our experiences, the acquisition of new skills or even recovery after a stroke. After a certain age, this plasticity is reduced and the brain loses its gray matter, where the neurons are housed. This is called brain atrophy. Then, the cognitive decline appears gradually. Memory in particular is one of the most affected functions.
Retired participants, without knowledge of music
Researchers from UNIGE, the Geneva University of Health (HES-SO Geneva) and the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne have studied the impact of music on the brain and its cognitive abilities. Results ? Playing a musical instrument or listening to music would improve the plasticity of the brain and increase the volume of gray matter. This work also showed that music would boost memory.
Of the 132 participants, all retirees between the ages of 62 and 78, none had taken music lessons for more than six months in their life. “We wanted people whose brains still showed no traces of plasticity related to musical learning. Indeed, even a brief learning experience in one’s lifetime can leave imprints on the brain, which would have biased our results”, explains Damien Marie, director of the study, associate researcher at the Faculty of Medicine and the Interfaculty Center for Affective Sciences (CISA) at UNIGE.
More gray matter
Divided into two groups, some of the participants took weekly piano lessons, the other active music listening lessons with work on recognizing instruments and analyzing works. Everyone had to work at home on his discipline, half an hour a day.
“After six months, we found effects common to both disciplines. Neuroimaging revealed, in all participants, an increase in gray matter in four regions of the brain involved in high-level cognitive functioning, in particular in areas of the cerebellum mobilized in memory. Their performance increased by 6% and this result was directly correlated with the plasticity of the cerebellum”says Clara James, co-author of the study, teacher at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences at UNIGE and professor at HES-SO Geneva.
Small flats
“Grey matter volume remained stable in the pianists’ right primary auditory cortex – a region specialized in sound processing – while it decreased in the active listening group,” says the press release.
Other information: the overall process of atrophy continued in all participants. “Musical interventions cannot therefore rejuvenate the brain but only slow down the aging of certain of its regions”, concludes Damien Marie. Nevertheless, according to the scientific team, the study of music, easily accessible, should be considered by the public authorities as a tool for healthy aging.
The next step ? Carry out a study on subjects affected by mild neurocognitive decline, situated by specialists between normal aging and dementia.