As we get older, cognitive decline is more susceptible to occur. So, how can we train our brains to fight cognitive decline? Researchers from the University of Geneve, EPFL, and HES-SO Geneva say the answer might be hidden in music. A recent study found that learning to play and listening may prevent a decline in brain health.

The brain loses its “plasticity” and gray matter, which holds the neurons that keep the brain sharp, leading up to cognitive decline. Once the deterioration starts, working memory is the most challenging entity to maintain. This type of memory includes remembering a phone number long enough to write it down or language translations.

The researchers studied how practicing music could fight this degradation using 132 healthy older and retired adults between 62 and 78. All participants never took music lessons for more than six months in their lifetime. In a university release, the first author of the study Damien Marie said, ‘‘We wanted people whose brains did not yet show any traces of plasticity linked to musical learning. Indeed, even a brief learning experience in the course of one’s life can leave imprints on the brain, which would have biased our results.”

The study authors split the participants randomly into two classes, piano playing and musical awareness. For the latter, participants had to actively listen and focus on instrument recognition and analysis of musical properties across different musical styles. Both classes were an hour long and had 30 minutes of homework daily.

Study author Clara James said, ‘‘After six months, we found common effects for both interventions. Neuroimaging revealed an increase in grey matter in four brain regions involved in high-level cognitive functioning in all participants, including cerebellum areas involved in working memory. Their performance increased by 6 percent, and this result was directly correlated to the plasticity of the cerebellum.’’

Further, the number of lessons followed over the intervention course, sleep quality, and the daily training quantity positively impacted the improvements noted. The team did point out that gray matter in the right primary auditory cortex, an area of the brain that processes sound, stayed stable in pianists. However, it went down in the active listening group. Marie said, ‘‘In addition, a global brain pattern of atrophy was present in all participants. Therefore, we cannot conclude that musical interventions rejuvenate the brain. They only prevent aging in specific regions.”

Overall, the results show that listening and practicing music can preserve cognition. This is welcoming news, considering that so many people worldwide enjoy music. The study authors now emphasize including these activities in policy for healthy aging. Looking ahead, they plan to evaluate the potential of music in those with mild cognitive impairment, which is the grey area between normal aging and dementia.