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The study found that older people who consistently engage in cognitive activities, like puzzles and mental exercises, have less age-related shrinkage in their brains.
The research, which was published in the journal NeuroImage, looked at the brains of 121 healthy adults aged 60 to 84.
The participants were asked to complete a range of tests that measured different aspects of mental ability, including memory, reasoning and processing speed.
They also completed a questionnaire about how often they participated in activities like these over the past 10 years.
The study found that participants who reported doing more cognitively stimulating activities had larger total brain volumes than those who reported little to no cognitive activity.
For each year over age 60, individuals with more cognitive activity had 1.7% larger brain volumes than those with less cognitive activity.
Cognitive training, or activities that exercise specific functions, may help delay the onset of age-related disorders like dementia. Our findings suggest that engaging in mentally stimulating activities provides measurable benefits to the brain
Emily Rogalski, Author at Northwestern University in Chicago
Super agers brain
The study also found that the protective effect was strongest in brain regions associated with memory and reasoning skills.
“As we age, our brain tissue naturally shrinks, so to counter that and not lose volume is pretty remarkable,” said Dr. Aron Barbey at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who co-led the study.
“If someone is concerned about preventing decline, engaging in these activities over a lifetime should have beneficial effects on the brain,” he says.
“People who did more cognitive activities had larger total brain volume,” she said, adding that previous studies have shown that this type of activity may also protect against dementia.
“In other words, at a macro level, people who have been more cognitively active were able to hold onto their brain volume better.”
“Engaging in mentally stimulating activities across a person’s lifetime builds reserve that may protect against age-related cognitive decline and dementia,” said Dr. Rogalski.
People with higher brain volumes may be able to compensate more easily for injuries or diseases that cause brain damage, she said.
“There is no loss of memory but there may be a reduction of volume.”
What does music do to the brain?
Scientists believe that music has a profound effect on the brain, and can be used as a tool for therapy.
A study published in the journal Brain found that people who engage in musical training have larger amounts of gray matter in their brains. Gray matter is critical for processing information.
The study looked at the brains of 72 musicians and non-musicians, in order to determine how volume in different regions of the brain was affected by long-term musical training.
The musicians were divided into groups based on the instrument they played, including keyboard/piano, string, woodwind and percussion instruments.
“What we’ve shown is that the brains of musicians are anatomically different from non-musicians,” said Assal Habibi, a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Edward Hubbard at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) who led the study.
“When you learn an instrument as a child, it really changes your brain.”
The brains of musicians showed increased gray matter in motor regions that are used for controlling the fingers, tongue, larynx and lips.
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The most significant differences in brain structure were seen between keyboard players and drummers, people who played stringed instruments like the violin or guitar had more gray matter than non-musicians in regions of the brain that process sound.
“The top musicians had increases in many parts of their brains while playing their instruments,” said Assal.
“I didn’t think it was possible, but we showed scientifically that these differences are present in the brains of musicians who started playing at a young age.”
Teresa Lesiuk is an assistant professor of music education at the University of Miami. She has studied how group drumming affects people’s stress levels.
“There is something about the act of making music that seems to help people forget their troubles,” she said.
“Drumming allows people to access feelings and emotions they might not ordinarily express.”
In a study published in the journal Psychology of Music, Lesiuk found that when people listened to music they had chosen for themselves, they had lower blood pressure and heart rates than when they passively listened to music played by other people.
“When you listen to music that you like, your body releases chemicals called endorphins that make you feel good,” she said. “You also release dopamine, which is linked with pleasure.”
“Hearing familiar music engages the brain’s reward system, which is the same system that lights up when you eat your favorite ice cream or receive a compliment from someone who matters to you.”
“The bottom line is that music has the potential to make us feel better and can produce changes in our bodies and brains,” she said.
Conclusion
So what does all of this mean? It means that engaging in mentally stimulating activities throughout your life can help protect your brain from age-related decline.
It also means that music has a profound effect on the brain, and can be used as a tool for therapy.
Finally, it means that when you listen to music that you like, your brain releases chemicals that make you feel good.
