By Science X staff, Medical Express | Listening to music benefits older adults’ cognitive health, even
if it’s music they haven’t heard before or don’t enjoy very much, according to a study by Simon
Fraser University and Health Research BC researchers.
Led by SFU neuroscientist Sarah Faber, the study published in Network Neuroscience discovered
that listening to music activates brain regions linked to reward in older adults, regardless of their
familiarity with the music.
“Hearing music engages multiple networks across our brains,” says Faber. “On top of the physical
properties of sounds we hear, several additional factors help form the whole-brain picture. Have you
heard the song before? Do you like it? Does it bring back memories?”
Faber, who is also a postdoctoral researcher with SFU’s Institute for Neuroscience and
Neurotechnology, says that hearing music may be beneficial for older adults with neurodegeneration
such as Alzheimer’s Disease as it can help bring back memories and provides a way to stay
connected to their past and to their loved ones, as well as their peers.
Researchers monitored brain activity across two cohorts of participants listening to music: a younger
group of adults with an average age of 19, and a set of older adults with average age of 67.
Participants listened to 24 samples, including songs they selected themselves, popular and
recognizable music intentionally chosen by researchers and ambiguous songs composed specifically
for the study.
> > > > > > > > >
Read more here:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/how-music-affects-the-cognitive-health-of-older-adults/
More information: Sarah E. M. Faber et al, Age-related variability in network engagement during
music listening, Network Neuroscience (2023). DOI: 10.1162/netn_a_00333
Provided by Simon Fraser University
This story was originally published on Medical Xpress.