Could learning to play a musical instrument help the elderly react faster and stay alert?
Quite likely, according to a new study by Université de Montréal’s School of Speech Language Pathology and Audiology, part of UdeM’s medical faculty.
Published in the U.S. journal Brain and Cognition, the study shows that musicians have faster reaction times to sensory stimuli than non-musicians have.
And that has implications for preventing some effects of aging, said lead researcher Simon Landry, whose study is part of his doctoral thesis in biomedical science.
“The more we know about the impact of music on really basic sensory processes, the more we can apply musical training to individuals who might have slower reaction times,” Landry said.
“As people get older, for example, we know their reaction times get slower. So if we know that playing a musical instrument increases reaction times, then maybe playing an instrument will be helpful for them.”
PR:http://nouvelles.umontreal.ca/en/article/2017/01/06/play-an-instrument-and-stay-alert/
Journal article:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278262616300550
Corina Marinescu
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