Playing musical instruments linked to improved brain connectivity in older adults

A study of older adults has found that those who played musical instruments during their lifetime tended to have higher resting state functional connectivity between the medial prefrontal cortex, temporal and frontal regions of their brains. This enhanced connectivity might contribute to better brain health and resilience as people age. The research was published in PLOS ONE.

People play musical instruments for a variety of reasons. Many experience joy and fulfillment from creating and expressing themselves through music. It can serve as a form of emotional release and stress relief, providing a therapeutic outlet for feelings and thoughts. Playing an instrument also offers cognitive benefits, such as improving memory, coordination, and problem-solving skills. It can also foster social connections through playing in a band, orchestra, or simply sharing music with friends and family. Mastering an instrument can also provide a sense of accomplishment and boost self-esteem.

Research indicates that long-term engagement in playing musical instruments may protect against cognitive decline and dementia in later life. Older adults who are musically active tend to have better cognitive functioning compared to those without musical experience. This may be due to neural plasticity—the brain’s ability to reorganize and adapt its structure and function—which is promoted by musical activity and benefits motor, sensory, and cognitive networks throughout life.

Study author Maxie Liebscher and her colleagues set out to explore the relationship between musical activity at different life stages and resting state functional connectivity in the brain’s central executive, default mode, and salience networks.

Resting state functional connectivity refers to spontaneous brain activity and communication patterns between brain regions when a person is not engaged in a specific task. The central executive network is involved in high-level cognitive functions like working memory and decision-making.

Free daily newsletter

The default mode network is active during rest and internally-focused tasks, such as daydreaming, self-referential thought, and recalling past experiences. The salience network of the brain detects and filters important stimuli from the environment and coordinates the brain’s response by switching between the default mode network and the central executive network.

The researchers analyzed data from the DZNE-Longitudinal Cognitive Impairment and Dementia Study, a German multicenter longitudinal study. They selected 130 participants: 65 who played musical instruments and 65 who did not. The groups were matched in terms of socioeconomic status, intelligence, physical activity, sex, age, education, and cognitive status.

Participants’ musical activities were assessed using items from the Lifetime of Experiences Questionnaire, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of their brains were analyzed to estimate local and global functional connectivity. Local functional connectivity refers to coordinated activity between nearby brain regions, while global connectivity encompasses interactions across the entire brain.

Results showed that participants who played a musical instrument tended to have greater resting state functional connectivity between the medial prefrontal cortex, two clusters in the right temporal lobe of the brain and the right precentral gyrus extending into the right superior frontal gyrus region. These belonged to the default mode network.

There were no differences between the two groups that could be attributed to the salience network or the central executive network. There were also no differences in global connectivity between the two groups.

“This finding suggests that preserved or enhanced RSFC [resting-state functional connectivity] between distant brain regions associated with higher-order cognitive and motor processes could be a functional neural correlate of the benefits associated with a history of musical activity. While preserved brain function may contribute to brain reserve and resilience in older age, further research is needed to investigate whether this might help delay cognitive decline and the onset of pathological conditions, including dementia,” the study authors concluded.

The study sheds light on the specificities of neural functioning of older adults with musical experience. However, it should be noted that the number of participants used in this study was small, they were selected by researchers for inclusion in the analysis, and the design of the study does not allow any cause-and-effect conclusions to be drawn from the results. Additionally, the exact relationship between functional connectivity differences and cognitive or psychological outcomes remains unclear.

The paper, “Short communication: Lifetime musical activity and resting-state functional connectivity in cognitive networks,” was authored by Maxie Liebscher, Andrea Dell’Orco, Johanna Doll-Lee, Katharina Buerger, Peter Dechent, Michael Ewers, Klaus Fliessbach, Wenzel Glanz, Stefan Hetzer, Daniel Janowitz, Ingo Kilimann, Christoph Laske, Falk Lüsebrink, Matthias Munk, Robert Perneczky, Oliver Peters, Lukas Preis, Josef Priller, Boris Rauchmann, Ayda Rostamzadeh, Nina Roy-Kluth, Klaus Scheffler, Anja Schneider, Björn H. Schott, Annika Spottke, Eike Spruth, Stefan Teipel, Jens Wiltfang, Frank Jessen, Emrah Düzel, Michael Wagner, Sandra Röske, and Miranka Wirth.