The Brains of Those Who Played Musical Instruments as Children Are More Active in Old Age

The contribution of learning musical instruments to mental development at an early age has been proven many times. A newly published study has reiterated this fact. The new research, published in the journal Psychological Science, People who learned to play a musical instrument in childhood revealed that they may have better thinking abilities at an older age.

Scientists from the University of Edinburgh, in their research from 366 participants took advantage. 117 of the participants shared that they had experience playing a musical instrument. Most of them stated that they played musical instruments especially during childhood and adolescence. While the most played musical instrument was the piano, there were also accordion, guitar and violin among other instruments.

Better cognitive ability was seen in the instrument players:

All participants were participants in the comprehensive cohort study ‘Lothian Birth Cohort’. These people had shared their data by taking part in research on child development since their childhood. One of these studies is performed at the age of 11 It was the standard cognitive ability test.

Participants participated in this research, which included questions in reasoning, spatial awareness, and numerical analysis. He joined again at the age of 70. As a result of the test, the scientists found that people who learned a musical instrument during their youth had improved thinking skills in old age. These people showed greater lifetime improvement in cognitive ability testing than people with little or no musical instrument experience. Moreover, this situation was the same when the socio-economic status of the people, the education they received and their health status in old age were taken into account.

Not exactly ‘proof’ though:

Commenting on the research, however, retired Professor Ian Deary said, “We found that the relationship we found between playing an instrument and lifetime cognitive development was small, and the first was compared to the second. We must stress that we cannot prove why.” he said. However, he stated that these results are still worth following.