This daily activity protects the brain from dementia; it's not sports or puzzles.
Dementia, of which Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause, is unfortunately very widespread. In France, at least 1.2 million people are affected. The good news is that it is possible to prevent dementia with healthy daily habits. We already know that diet, physical activity, and social activities play a major role. But that's not all. Researchers have recently provided new evidence of the benefits of certain activities in preventing dementia.
This activity is listening to music. A recent Australian study of nearly 11,000 people aged 70 and over revealed that "regularly listening to music, compared to never, rarely, or sometimes listening to it, was associated with a 39% reduction in the risk of dementia," Monash University wrote in a press release . The study also showed that people who frequently listen to music have a lower risk of cognitive impairment and "better scores in overall cognition and memory of everyday events."
It's not just listening to music that can prevent dementia: playing it can too. An Australian study concluded that playing an instrument could reduce the risk of dementia by 35%. Its authors believe that "these results highlight music as a potentially promising and accessible strategy to help reduce cognitive impairment and delay the onset of dementia in older adults." However, further studies are needed to prove this link between music and dementia, since "causality cannot be established" with this research, as lead author Emma Jaffa points out.
Other studies had already concluded that playing a musical instrument could reduce the risk of dementia. One published in 2022 in the journal BMC Neurology showed that "playing a musical instrument was significantly associated with a reduced risk of dementia in older adults," with a 36% risk reduction. While the researchers acknowledge that "the explanation for this inverse association between musical practice and the risk of dementia is not yet fully understood," they believe it "could be attributed to the role of music in improving executive functions and working memory, stimulating brain plasticity, and reducing stress and depression."
Since there is currently no cure for dementia, "it is essential to identify strategies to prevent or delay its onset," explained Professor Joanne Ryan, co-lead author of the first study, in the press release. In any case, listening to music to reduce stress and stimulate the brain can only be beneficial, as long as you don't listen too loudly or for too long, which can be bad for your ears!
L'Internaute
