Scientists and music therapists are discovering remarkable evidence that lifelong engagement with music can dramatically improve brain health and even delay the onset of age related neurological diseases while providing powerful therapeutic benefits for people living with conditions like Parkinson’s and dementia. Research shows that playing or singing music over time promotes greater neuroplasticity in the brain creating new neural connections that become especially valuable as we age since age related changes typically reduce cognitive function. In Limerick Ireland music therapists lead a choir called Parkinsongs where participants with Parkinson’s diagnoses experience improvements in vocal intensity frequency and overall voice related quality of life while those in dementia choirs show enhanced cognitive functioning and episodic memory including the ability to recall names faces and stories. One particularly striking example involved a woman with dementia who suddenly got up from her chair and began dancing during a musical performance marking the first time her carers had ever seen her move unaided.
Musical memory appears to be encoded in brain regions that remain preserved even during Alzheimer’s progression while musical experience covers such wide territory in the brain that even people who become nonverbal still have the circuitry needed to respond to music. Recent research from Aarhus University in Denmark found that musicians experience less physical pain than non musicians with more training hours correlating to less discomfort potentially because their brains naturally downregulate pain signals in anticipation of rewards like improved performance. Experts recommend people start by playing an instrument for 30 to 45 minutes per day on most days of the week emphasizing that consistency matters most because brain plasticity is based on repetition and enjoyment. However the benefits appear to double when engaging in music with other people as group singing or performing triggers dopamine and endorphins promoting feelings of acceptance and social connection while creating emotional bonds that help people socialize more quickly than other activities proving you are not just recalling words but recalling a feeling.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260212-the-lifelong-benefits-of-making-music
