Playing Music to Strategy Games Proven to Maintain Brain Health

JAKARTA - Pursuing creative hobbies turns out to be not only fun, but also has a big impact on brain health. A study revealed activities such as playing music, dancing, painting, to playing strategy games can help keep the brain sharp and look younger biologically.

This large-scale study involved more than 1,400 adults from various age groups in 13 countries. The research team from a number of prestigious institutions such as Trinity College Dublin (Ireland) and SWPS University (Poland) found that individuals who regularly engage in creative hobbies have brain activity patterns similar to those of younger people.

"Our research results show that creativity plays an important role in maintaining brain health," said Dr. Carlos Coronel, lead author of the study and researcher at the Global Brain Health Institute, Trinity College Dublin, quoted from the Fox News website.

"The interesting thing is, one doesn't need to be an expert to feel the benefits," he added.

In this study, researchers analyzed brain data from people experienced in tango, music, visual art, and strategy games. In addition, a group of beginners was also involved, including participants who had just learned to play the strategy game StarCraft II for several weeks.

All participants underwent brain scans using EEG and MEG technology.

The data was then analyzed with an artificial intelligence model known as the 'brain age clock', which is a method for estimating the biological age of the brain compared to the actual age.

The results showed that those who have long pursued creative hobbies showed the most significant decline in brain age.

But beginners still feel the positive impact. Playing a strategy game for about 30 hours is enough to improve brain health indicators.

"We saw that even a short training was able to strengthen the brain networks that play a role in attention, coordination, and problem solving," said Coronel.

Senior researcher Dr. Agustin Ibanez assessed that this finding places creativity on par with other healthy lifestyle factors.

"Creativity emerges as a strong determinant of brain health, equivalent to exercise and a balanced diet," he said.

He added that the results of this study open up opportunities for the development of a program based on creativity to prevent brain aging and neurodegenerative diseases. A similar opinion was expressed by Dr. Aneta Brzezicka from SWPS University. According to him, creative activities should be considered as part of educational programs and health services.

"Creative hobbies have the potential to be a simple but effective tool to support people's brain health," he said.

However, the researchers caution that these results are still limited. Most participants were healthy adults, and this study has not been conducted in the long term to ensure its impact on the risk of dementia or daily functional abilities.

Neurologist Dr. Jon Stewart Hao Dy who was not involved in the study said that these findings are still promising.

"Evidence shows that activities such as dancing, painting, making crafts, and visiting museums can help maintain cognitive function in old age," he said.

According to Dy, the next challenge is to translate these scientific findings into real policies.

"The knowledge is strong enough. Now it's up to the government and related institutions to support and fund these creative programs," he said.

In the future, the researchers plan to conduct more extensive follow-up studies to link brain age with real-life impacts, such as memory, thinking ability, and the risk of disease in old age.