Among others, researchers at University of Alberta, Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University, Emory University, University of South Florida, and University of Southern California say that playing music can help the elderly with memory.
Increasingly, studies show that adults who studied music in childhood — even those who stopped playing in adulthood — exhibit better memory and cognitive function than adults who have no musical experience. In learning to play an instrument, numerous regions of the brain simultaneously perform cognitive functions across the right and left hemispheres. This activity permanently rewires the brain and improves memory and cognitive function later in life.
For those who did not study an instrument as a child, it’s not too late to get similar benefits. After only a few months of lessons on piano, adults aged 60 to 85 with no musical experience demonstrate measurably improved attention, memory, and problem-solving abilities (and moods).
Many of our students are children who are “rewiring” their brains for when they get older, but many are adults aged sixty and over who are returning to lessons after a hiatus or are just beginning. We are not neuroscientists or gerontologists, and our observations are not scientific. However, what we see here in the real world is consistent with the research. Our elder students are are smart, funny, engaged, and creative. We believe that playing music helps them be that way.
Mike and Paula
Meadowood Music
