The relation between instrumental music activity

and cognitive aging

Realised by : Asma Assidi

Master1 clinical neuropsychology

2020-2021
 Plan
I. Introduction

II. Method

III. Results

IV. Discussion + conclusion

 Introduction
There is increasing interest in identification of life style interventions that may
enhance the cognitive vitality of older adults and possibly delay the onset of
dementia like Alzheimers’s disease

Previous investigations have focused on physical activities ( such as ……) which

has been considered :
 Beneficial for cognition
 Had a considerable influence on brain function
 Are necessary for the prevention of age-related cognitive decline
• It have been suggested that frequent participation in cognitively stimulating
activities may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s dementia ( Wilson et al , 2002)

• In the attempt to identify modifiable lifestyle factors that may potentially

enhance successful aging , this article present the evaluation of how musical
instrumental participation throughout the life span may influence cognitive
aging.

• The objective is to evaluate how years of musical activity predicts cognition in

advanced age by the evaluation of neuropsychological performance in low
versus high activity musicians
 Method
• The experiment evaluated the neuropsychological profiles of older adults based
on the extent of previous experience as instrumental musician relative to
nonmusicans

• Subjects were recruited from the Landon center on aging normal database at the
university of kansas medical center ( KUMC)
  Participants

70 older healthy adults between 60 and 83 years , participants were subdivised into the following three
different levels of musical activity across the life span

1)Nonmusicans ( n= 21) :

Consisted of subjects who had never received formal training as an instrumental musician and could not play
an instrument or read music

2) Low activity musicians ( n=27) :

Consisted of individual who had experience playing a musical instrument for at n least 1 year but less than 9
years and same formal training

3) High activity musicians ( n= 22) :

Consisted of individuals who had at least 10 years of experience playing a;;musical instrument on a regular
basis and formal training
( tab descreption) ( voice Carnet)
 The composite of each group was similar in terms of participation
Of males ( 40-50%) and females ( 50-60%)

 All subjects were native english speakers

 Strongly right hand dominant

 Had normal cognition ( within normal limits on the mini-mental status

examination ( MMSE))

 All subjects were healthy older individuals , fully independent in activities of

daily living

 Did not display symptoms or signs of psychiatric or neurological disease ,

current alcohol or substances abuse or depression .
  Procedure

• A comprehensive neuropsychological assessment was administered to determine difference

in the profile and cognitive strength between musicians and nonmusicans

• The assessment included several estimates of verbale intellectual functioning, memory ,

attention, working memory and language functions.

Tests:

 The American Adult reading test ( AMNART) : it’s a stable and valid measure of premorbid
intellectual functioning in older non-demented and demented adults

 The Wais III :

- the information subtest (which provides a good estimate of general hhhhh
intellectual ability and verbal intelligence
- the Digit Span ( DS)  Auditory attention
- The letter-Number sequencing (LNS)  auditory working memory
 Wechsler memory scale ( WMS-III) to measure non verbal memory
 The spatial span (SS) subtest of ( WMS-II ) visual attention functions

 Trail A / Trail B (TMT) cognitive flexibility

 The California Verbal learning test ( CVLT II) verbal memory

performance

 The Bosten Naming Test (BNT) Verbal and language functions.

 Results
• Several analyses of variance ( Anova) were conducted on the
neuropsychological measures to determinate between-groups difference
based on level of musical participation across the life span.
 Estimates of verbal intellectual ability
• Anova’s evaluating verbal intellectual ability did not reveal
between-groups difference for AMNART ( American Adult
Reading test) F(2.67)= 2.56 ; p=0,08

• The estimated verbal intellectual abilities of nonmusicans were

slightly lower than musicans  this was not statistically
significant
 Memory
-Verbal learning and memory recall measureswere not
signifantly different between groups
- There is not difference on the immediate nonverbal recall of
the visual reproduction test

- There was a significant between-groups difference on the

delayed nonverbal memory recall of visual reproduction test F
(2.67)= 29,39 ; p = 0.02

- Post hoc analysis revealed that the high activity musicans had
grater nonverbal recall compared to nonmusicans (fig1)
( mean difference = -2.31 ; p = 0.07)
 Attention / working memory

- Anova did not reveal significant between-groups differences for

auditory attention and working memory functions ( Tab2)

- Between subjects effects were significant for visumotor speed

( trail A) F ( 2.67) = 3.112 , p<0.05

- Post hoc analysis revealed that high activity musicans were faster
in processing speed and visuel researchers than low activity
musicans ( on trail A ) and more fast than nonmusicans (on trail
B)
 Language
-Sementic and letter fluency performances didn’t reveal significant
between-groupes differences ( Tab 2)

- Although , letter fluency approached signifiance ( p<0.08)

- The bosten naming test was different between the music groups ,
with hight activity musicans displaying significantly better word
retrieval than nonmusicans
( mean difference = 2,171 ; SE = 0.781; p=0.21 ) (fig 1)
 Discriminant analysis
• fffdgggc
 Discussion

• The curent study examined the cognitive differences of older

healthy subjects based on extent of instrumental musical
experience across the life span

• The results of the study revealed significant differences between

high activity musicans and nonmusicans on measures of :
naming , nonverbal memory recall , visuomotor sequencing and
cognitive flexibility
• Although, cognitive differences between low and high activity
musicans were not statiscally significant

• The age of acqusition was similar for both low and high activity
musicans  no significant differences related to learning at different
critical sensitive periods

• The actual years of instrumental practice across the life span and
high activity musicans playing at the time of the evaluation were the
primary differences between the groups
 this suggest that years of musical participation throughout the
ggflife span influences cognitive functioning in advanced age
( répétition)
• Initial results suggest that both musical and physical activity are
important contributors to cognitive vitality in advanced age but
results are not capable of excluding potentiel social influences

• The multidimensional aspects of musical participation will require

further investigation to better understand the relative social ,
physical ans cognitive components of musical activity that may
influence cognitive and brain aging
• Those results are coherent with previous investigations demonstrating
enhanced cognition in children engaged in musical activity ( forgeard et
al.,2008)
• Same investigatores have concluded that musical abilities have specefic
cognitive correlates that are enhanced (Chan et al.,1998)

• However , results differ in the type of memory advantage previously reported in

young adults (Chan et al.,1998) .

• Contrary to other studies , those findings revealed better visuospatial

sequencing in high activity musicans

• In contrast , a recent study evaluating the influence of instrumental musical

training in children did not reveal visuospatial improvements but
enhancements in nonverbal reasoning and verbal ability ( Forgeard et al.,2008)
 All the correlational results suggest a strong predective effect of high musical activity
throughout the life span on preserved cognitive functionning in advanced age .

• A discussion of how musical participation may enhance cognitive aging is provided

along with other alternative explanations such as environmental influences , brain
plasticity and relative social , physical and cognitve aspects
So future studies should focus on :

- Replication of cognitive domaines enhanced in musicans

- Comparaison to other cognitivly stimulating activities

- Longitudinal studies and studies evaluating neural mechanisms of compensation

all those points help to explain whether musical training may enhance cognition in
advenced age .
Thank you for your attention
Bibliography
• Brenda Hanna-Pladdy and Alicia MacKay ( 2011) The Relation
between instrumental musical activity and cognitive aging