… I feel like all on its own it is proving some scientists wrong. I am going to blame the reeds. As usual. (And I’m not even 60 yet. Oh dear!)
Those childhood music lessons could pay off decades later – even for those who no longer play an instrument – by keeping the mind sharper as people age, according to a preliminary study published by the American Psychological Association.
The study recruited 70 healthy adults age 60 to 83 who were divided into groups based on their levels of musical experience. The musicians performed better on several cognitive tests than individuals who had never studied an instrument or learned how to read music. The research findings were published online in the APA journal Neuropsychology.
Fascinating stuff. I wonder if it’s because music is a kind of language and learning to read it has similarities to being bilingual — and being bilingual has long been known to keep the mind sharper and even to stave off the onset of Alzheimer’s. (http://alzheimer.ucdavis.edu/outreach/wnews07/Feb72007.htm)