There are some universal principles regarding brain health. For the most part, what is good for the brain of an elderly person looking to stave off dementia is also good for a growing child, or an individual recovering from a traumatic brain injury. There are differences between the brain of a young person, an old person, and someone with a brain injury -- but on a basic level most people's brains are healthiest when they are nourished by the same nutrients and brain-enriching activities.
Music is one example of a brain-enriching activity that is good for just about everyone. Listening to music, or singing or playing music, stimulates the brain and can improve your mood. Sometimes hearing a beautiful song that really touches me emotionally, or reminds me of a fond memory, or inspires me, can be the highlight of my day. Also, making music together with other people helps to create connections with others. Did you know that every culture in the world has music? Even remote tribes of people with almost no contact with rest of the world, have managed to develop music on their own. It may be that enjoying music is an essential part of our humanity -- something that all people have in common.
A number of the activities I recommended in my synergy article for promoting brain health involve music. Playing an instrument, singing together with others, and dancing to music are considered some of the best activities for keeping your brain young -- because they stimulate so many different parts of the brain at the same time. And because they are fun, and whenever you have fun your brain lights up and you are engaged in what you are doing.
The Benefits of Music For Older Adults
Numerous studies have shown that playing a musical instrument has physical and mental health benefits for older adults. This is true regardless of whether someone has been playing in instrument for their entire life, or starts playing as an adult.
A study done at the University of Kansas Medical Center took 70 healthy adults between ages 60 and 83, and gave them a battery of cognitive tests. The adults who had experience playing music scored better on these tests than their counterparts who had never played a musical instrument.
Another study, with people between 45 and 65 years old, found that musicians were better than non-musicians at picking out speech amidst background noise. This is a skill that does not just require hearing, but also the neurological and cognitive tasks of taking the sound of speech, recognizing the words, and converting the words into meaning. For anyone who is concerned about not being able to cure and communicate as well with age, these can be important pieces of the puzzle.
Studies have shown that making music -- whether playing an instrument or singing -- can lessen stress, depression, and anxiety. It strengthens the immune system, and can reduce heart rate and blood pressure. Listening to music also has benefits, even for people who are suffering from fairly advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease and dementia. Some therapists have used music therapy in order to help bolster the memory of people with dementia. Music benefit these people greatly by helping them connect to memories, and to moods and emotions.
Benefits of Music For Developing Brains
The benefits of music for young, developing brains are also famous. That is the reason that so many parents encourage their young children to learn to play a musical instrument while they are in school. Learning to play music boosts brainpower -- it helps develop the parts of the brain involved with reading, math, memory, and even emotions.
How is this relevant to you, if you are not a child? The fact is, everyone's brain is a developing brain -- or has the potential to be. Neuroplasticity -- the ability of the brain to develop new connections, adapt, and change its structure in response to new activities and learning -- means that it's never too late to develop your brain. Your brain is a developing brain, whether you are 8 or 80.
The Healing Power of Music
My favorite jazz singer, Melody Gardot, provides an example of how music therapy can help heal from brain injury and dementia. I find her story to be very touching and inspiring.
Melody began to take music lessons when she was nine years old, and by the time she was 16 she began playing piano in bars in her native city of Philadelphia on weekends. Then, at the age of 18, she was hit by a car while she was bicycling. She was seriously hurt -- head and spinal injuries, and a broken pelvis -- and she had to stay in her hospital bed for a year while she recovered.
She also suffered from dementia as a result of her head injuries. Dementia is not just something that strikes the elderly, although dementia is more common among the elderly. Rather, dementia is a term used to describe a decline in mental ability that is severe enough that it interferes with daily life. Melody Gardot had dementia, at the age of 18.
She had trouble with both long-term and short-term memory. She would often wake up in the morning with no memory of what she had planned to do that day. She had trouble talking because it was hard to retrieve the right words from her memory to exporess herself, and she also difficulty with keeping track of time. And she had to re-learn how to perform simple tasks like brushing her teeth. In an interview, Melody said that her life after the accident was like "climbing Mount Everest every day."
A doctor at the hospital suggested that music might be able to help her in her recovery from the accident, by helping to re-grow the neural connections in her brain. She could not listen to the music she had enjoyed before the accident, because it now felt too grating, so she began to listen to music that was quieter and more relaxing. She began humming, and eventually she graduated to singing. Because of her injury she was not able to sit comfortably at a piano anymore, and so she learned to play guitar while lying on her back in the hospital bed.
Eventually, she began to tape record herself singing and playing music, and she began to write music. Today, she is a successful artist whose music brings joy into many people's lives, and she is also an advocate for the power of music to heal.
You Can Do It
I hope when you hear these stories about the power of music, you feel inspired, not daunted. Maybe you feel like trying something totally new and learning a musical instrument that you had never tried before. But you don't have to go that far to get the benefits of music.
You can bring lots of joy into you life with little bits of music. You could put on a song and dance with a loved one. You could sing along with a favorite song, or join a choir if you feel inspired to. Singing together with others is fun, and it is a great bonding activity. Don't feel that you have to take on a big challenge if you don't feel like it. The important thing is to keep it fun.
Happy listening, happy humming, and happy singing. Here's to having fun, and keeping your brain young!
Go to Staying Sharp As A Senior homepage
Go to Synergy for Brain Health
Go to The Power of Gratitude
Music is one example of a brain-enriching activity that is good for just about everyone. Listening to music, or singing or playing music, stimulates the brain and can improve your mood. Sometimes hearing a beautiful song that really touches me emotionally, or reminds me of a fond memory, or inspires me, can be the highlight of my day. Also, making music together with other people helps to create connections with others. Did you know that every culture in the world has music? Even remote tribes of people with almost no contact with rest of the world, have managed to develop music on their own. It may be that enjoying music is an essential part of our humanity -- something that all people have in common.
A number of the activities I recommended in my synergy article for promoting brain health involve music. Playing an instrument, singing together with others, and dancing to music are considered some of the best activities for keeping your brain young -- because they stimulate so many different parts of the brain at the same time. And because they are fun, and whenever you have fun your brain lights up and you are engaged in what you are doing.
The Benefits of Music For Older Adults
Numerous studies have shown that playing a musical instrument has physical and mental health benefits for older adults. This is true regardless of whether someone has been playing in instrument for their entire life, or starts playing as an adult.
A study done at the University of Kansas Medical Center took 70 healthy adults between ages 60 and 83, and gave them a battery of cognitive tests. The adults who had experience playing music scored better on these tests than their counterparts who had never played a musical instrument.
Another study, with people between 45 and 65 years old, found that musicians were better than non-musicians at picking out speech amidst background noise. This is a skill that does not just require hearing, but also the neurological and cognitive tasks of taking the sound of speech, recognizing the words, and converting the words into meaning. For anyone who is concerned about not being able to cure and communicate as well with age, these can be important pieces of the puzzle.
Studies have shown that making music -- whether playing an instrument or singing -- can lessen stress, depression, and anxiety. It strengthens the immune system, and can reduce heart rate and blood pressure. Listening to music also has benefits, even for people who are suffering from fairly advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease and dementia. Some therapists have used music therapy in order to help bolster the memory of people with dementia. Music benefit these people greatly by helping them connect to memories, and to moods and emotions.
Benefits of Music For Developing Brains
The benefits of music for young, developing brains are also famous. That is the reason that so many parents encourage their young children to learn to play a musical instrument while they are in school. Learning to play music boosts brainpower -- it helps develop the parts of the brain involved with reading, math, memory, and even emotions.
How is this relevant to you, if you are not a child? The fact is, everyone's brain is a developing brain -- or has the potential to be. Neuroplasticity -- the ability of the brain to develop new connections, adapt, and change its structure in response to new activities and learning -- means that it's never too late to develop your brain. Your brain is a developing brain, whether you are 8 or 80.
The Healing Power of Music
My favorite jazz singer, Melody Gardot, provides an example of how music therapy can help heal from brain injury and dementia. I find her story to be very touching and inspiring.
Melody began to take music lessons when she was nine years old, and by the time she was 16 she began playing piano in bars in her native city of Philadelphia on weekends. Then, at the age of 18, she was hit by a car while she was bicycling. She was seriously hurt -- head and spinal injuries, and a broken pelvis -- and she had to stay in her hospital bed for a year while she recovered.
She also suffered from dementia as a result of her head injuries. Dementia is not just something that strikes the elderly, although dementia is more common among the elderly. Rather, dementia is a term used to describe a decline in mental ability that is severe enough that it interferes with daily life. Melody Gardot had dementia, at the age of 18.
She had trouble with both long-term and short-term memory. She would often wake up in the morning with no memory of what she had planned to do that day. She had trouble talking because it was hard to retrieve the right words from her memory to exporess herself, and she also difficulty with keeping track of time. And she had to re-learn how to perform simple tasks like brushing her teeth. In an interview, Melody said that her life after the accident was like "climbing Mount Everest every day."
A doctor at the hospital suggested that music might be able to help her in her recovery from the accident, by helping to re-grow the neural connections in her brain. She could not listen to the music she had enjoyed before the accident, because it now felt too grating, so she began to listen to music that was quieter and more relaxing. She began humming, and eventually she graduated to singing. Because of her injury she was not able to sit comfortably at a piano anymore, and so she learned to play guitar while lying on her back in the hospital bed.
Eventually, she began to tape record herself singing and playing music, and she began to write music. Today, she is a successful artist whose music brings joy into many people's lives, and she is also an advocate for the power of music to heal.
You Can Do It
I hope when you hear these stories about the power of music, you feel inspired, not daunted. Maybe you feel like trying something totally new and learning a musical instrument that you had never tried before. But you don't have to go that far to get the benefits of music.
You can bring lots of joy into you life with little bits of music. You could put on a song and dance with a loved one. You could sing along with a favorite song, or join a choir if you feel inspired to. Singing together with others is fun, and it is a great bonding activity. Don't feel that you have to take on a big challenge if you don't feel like it. The important thing is to keep it fun.
Happy listening, happy humming, and happy singing. Here's to having fun, and keeping your brain young!
Go to Staying Sharp As A Senior homepage
Go to Synergy for Brain Health
Go to The Power of Gratitude
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