Learning a musical instrumentinstrument/ˈɪnstrəmənt/L2乐器an object used to make music, like a piano, guitar, or violin in your 70s could help protect your memorymemory/ˈmeməri/L1记住事情的能力the ability to remember things. A four-year study from Kyoto University followed older adults with an average age of 73. Continuing participants kept their memory performance and showed less brain shrinkage. However, participants who stopped playing experienced declines in memory and brain health.
In addition, the researchers compared two groups of participants. About half continued practicing for more than three years, while the others stopped and chose different hobbies. At the start there were no differences, but after four years clear differences appeared. The group that stopped showed declines, but the continuing group did not.
"It's never too late to start playing an instrument, and starting in old age may have major benefits," says author Kaoru Sekiyama. The findings suggest that learning an instrument later in life can help delay cognitive changes. Music may also be a good alternative for people with difficulty doing physical exercise.
