Listening to or playing music might do more than bring joy—it could help keep your brain sharp as you age.
A new study published in PLOS Biology suggests that long-term musical training may protect against age-related decline in speech perception by boosting what scientists call “cognitive reserve.”
As we grow older, it’s common to experience a drop in our ability to process sounds and think quickly.
These changes are often linked to the brain working harder than usual, with increased activity and more connections forming between different regions as a way to compensate for the decline.
This is the brain’s way of trying to maintain normal function, even when it’s under strain.
But some lifestyle habits may actually slow down this decline. Research has shown that higher education, speaking more than one language, and regular musical training can help build cognitive reserve—essentially a buffer of mental strength that helps the brain adapt to aging.
To explore how musical training influences the brain’s activity during aging, researchers from Canada and China studied three groups of people: 25 older adults with long-term musical training, 25 older adults without musical training, and 24 younger adults with no musical background.
All participants underwent brain scans while trying to recognize spoken syllables that were masked by background noise—a task that becomes more challenging with age.
The scientists focused on a brain pathway known as the auditory dorsal stream, which is involved in hearing and speech processing.
As expected, older adults without musical training struggled more with the noisy speech task and showed greater brain connectivity than the younger group, which is believed to be the brain’s way of working harder to compensate for age-related changes.
In contrast, the older adults with musical training performed better and showed brain activity patterns that looked more like those of the younger adults.
Their brain connections were more focused and efficient, especially in areas related to sound processing. This suggests that musical experience helps preserve the brain’s natural structure and function, allowing it to work more effectively with less effort.
The researchers call this the “Hold-Back Upregulation” effect, where musical training holds back the usual signs of aging in the brain by maintaining youthful patterns of activity. While the study doesn’t prove cause and effect, it strongly supports the idea that playing music may help the brain stay healthy and resilient.
Experts believe future studies should look at whether similar effects can be found with other activities, like exercise or learning languages. But for now, this research offers one more reason to pick up an instrument—it’s never too late to start, and your brain may thank you for it.
