Dementia: Active music making helps thinking and memory

Previous research has suggested that music on the whole might be able to improve the quality of life of more aged adults with dementia.

A new research from Pitt seeks to recognize the great things about active participation in music versus passive participation, that's, listening to music. This is a meta-analysis of 21 previous studies involving 1,472 individuals.

The new study finds producing music delivers a small but significant positive effect in persons with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia.

The researchers also discovered that music improved quality of life and disposition for the same people.

The study describes MCI as “a preclinical condition between normal cognitive aging and Alzheimer’s disease” that impacts 15% of older men and women who don't have Alzheimer’s. Of the people, on the other hand, 38% will eventually develop it.

The study’s lead author, Jennie L. Dorris of Pitt, said:

“We are excited to see these effects because taking part in music, just like singing in a choir or perhaps playing in a drum circle, is a secure, engaging activity that our research demonstrates may support cognition at a critical time for older men and women facing cognitive decline.”

The need for standardized research

Too little standardization in prior research may make such a meta-analysis a challenge. The analysis notes that the display of musical activities various considerably, having been delivered by music therapists, occupational therapists, and professional musicians across a variety of musical experience and proficiencies.

In addition, the activities themselves were different. For example, 17 analyses involved singing or participating in existing music, 10 dealt with musical improvisation, and six documented movements, dance, or both.

In the same way, the studies employed numerous tools for assessing cognition, mood, quality of life, and anxiety.

Medical Reports Today asked Dorris if the analysis was able to identify a difference on the benefit persons received from different forms of active participation.

Dorris said, “Predicated on this research, what we could actually find is that active music making, regardless of the type, is effective for standard thinking and memory.”

“It will be exciting,” Dorris added, “to see future analysis continue to use the classification system to comprehend if there are specific cognitive benefits to pursuits like singing versus using a musical instrument and how those rewards may support persons with dementia.”

What the researchers found

To assess the result of music in cognitive performing in the brand new study, the experts focused on nine studies involving 495 participants. They found that productive participation in music made a little yet significant positive influence on cognitive function.

In terms of the impact music had on mental well-being, the results were a little more ambiguous.

Four of the six research examining it found a positive effect. While the effect ranged in size among these studies, total, the study reports, the benefit was not higher than that of physical exercise, although certainly both activities are by no means mutually exclusive. One research found that hearing music produced a more substantial benefit than singing.

The results of the analysis of six studies worried about music’s benefit for folks with depression were “promising but uncertain.” Similarly, five analyses measuring anxiety didn't produce clear results.