


Even a small amount of training can have long-lasting effects. But this doesn’t mean that those who have never played an instrument in childhood have missed the boat. The aging brain is plastic: That means it is able to learn new things all the time. So, should we consider an increase in music programs for those in the third age?

Playing Music as a Workout for the Brain

Learning to play a musical instrument is an extremely complex task that involves the coordination of multiple sensory systems within the brain. Many instruments require precise coordination between the eyes, the ears, and the hands in order to play a musical note. Using the resulting sound as feedback, the brain prepares for the next note, and so it continues. The act of music-making is quite a brain workout.

The relationship between the motor and auditory parts of the brain is strengthened when physically playing music. This may explain why adults trained to play certain melodies have an enhanced representation of music in the brain compared to adults trained only to listen to the same melodies.

As playing music involves many different parts of the brain, even a short-term program for older adult musical novices can lead to generalized improvements for cognitive ability.

Music as a Workout for the Fingers



It’s thanks to this that piano lessons have been used to successfully retrain hand function for patients who have had a stroke. The immediate auditory feedback from each finger movement is thought to help adults reduce errors in movement and work toward moving at a more regular pace.

Music training is an excellent environment to train cognitive and motor abilities, both in the contexts of child development and for rehabilitation. The question for older adults is this: Can learning a musical instrument not only put the brakes on cognitive and motor decline, but actually allow development of new skills?

Older adults can improve their motor learning—that is, they can improve their rate of learning new thingsand the best environments for brain training are ones that are novel and flexible.

Of course, many activities can be novel, such as juggling or knitting, but the advantages of learning an instrument can be found in the breadth of skills required to play. At Western Sydney University, we are investigating how piano training can be used with healthy older adults to improve their general hand function in unrelated daily tasks.

Music for Health and Well-Being


Older adults relish the opportunity to learn something new. Cognitive benefits aside, music can also be a great social activity for older adults, facilitating social bonding and decreasing feelings of loneliness or isolation.

Music programs are linked to improvements measured in markers of the body’s immune system, such as the presence of antibodies and vital signs (heart rate/blood pressure).


Music for All


Wouldn’t it be great if the third age wasn’t viewed as a final descent from some midlife peak, but some new act of life that opens up these opportunities? Perhaps we should give older adults the chance to develop in ways they could never have imagined before.

Activities such as singing in a choir or playing the piano can provide this opportunity, as well as offering many general benefits to health and well-being.

So whether it’s in independent living, retirement, or assisted care, let’s make the third act of life a musical one!

Jennifer MacRitchie is a research lecturer in music perception and cognition at Western Sydney University in Australia. This article was originally published on The Conversation.
The Conversation