A study from Kyoto University has found that older adults who took up and continued playing a musical instrument maintained better memory and brain health over four years compared to those who stopped.
Researchers followed participants with an average age of 73 who began learning an instrument for the first time. After an initial four-month training period, roughly half continued practicing for more than three years while the others switched to different activities.
Four years later, MRI scans and cognitive tests revealed clear differences. Those who kept playing showed no decline in verbal working memory and less shrinkage in the right putamen, a brain region linked to memory. They also had greater activity in the cerebellum.
"It's never too late to start playing an instrument, and starting in old age may have major benefits," said corresponding author Kaoru Sekiyama. The findings indicate that musical training can help counter normal age-related cognitive changes, even for those unable to exercise physically.
