Experience of playing music in childhood and adolescence linked to better cognitive ability in old age: Study

People say music is therapy. Now, the latest study shows that music is also linked to the sharpness of the mind. According to a paper from the University of Edinburgh, playing music in childhood is linked to a sharper mind in old age, The Guardian reported.

Published in the journal Psychological Science, the study was funded by Age UK and the Economic and Social Research Council.

Researchers have attempted to establish a link between youth and better (or improved) thinking skills in old age.

The paper mentioned that those people with more experience in playing a musical instrument showed better results on a test of cognitive ability as compared to those with less or no experience.

The paper also mentioned that the music experience is responsible for their socio-economic status, years of education, childhood cognitive ability and health in older age.

Meanwhile, emeritus Professor Ian Deary, said: "We have to emphasise that the association we found between instrument-playing and lifetime cognitive improvement was small and that we cannot prove that the former caused the latter."

"However, as we and others search for the many small effects that might contribute toward some people’s brains ageing more healthily than others, these results are worth following up," added Deary, who is a former director of the Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology at the university.

The candidates who took part in the study were tested on a number of physical and mental functions as they grow older. The study even included retaking the standardised cognitive ability test each of the participants took as an 11-year-old. The questions were about verbal reasoning, spatial awareness and numerical analysis.

The Guardian mentioned that out of the 366 study participants, 117 reported some experience of playing a musical instrument. They gained experience mostly during childhood and adolescence.

The report also noted that the participants were part of the "Lothian Birth Cohort 1936". It is a group of individuals from Edinburgh and the Lothians, born in 1936 and they took part in the Scottish Mental Survey of 1947.

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