Listen To Music At Twilight, Dementia Risk Drops By 39 Percent

Illustration of the elderly listening to songs (Photo: Freepik/Freepik)

JAKARTA - Listening to music after the age of 70 can actually help significantly reduce the risk of dementia. A research team from Monash University analyzed data from more than 10,800 elderly people and found that those who regularly listen to music had a 39 percent lower chance of developing dementia.

Research led by Monash honorary student Emma Jaffa with Professor Joanne Ryan saw the relationship between the habit of listening to music and playing musical instruments with cognitive health in people over 70 years of age.

The results show that those who consistently listen to music have a 39 percent lower risk of dementia than those who never, rarely, or only occasionally listen to music. Playing musical instruments also provides similar benefits to reducing the risk of dementia by 39 percent.

This study used data from the study ASPREE (ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly) and the ALSOP sub-study (ASPREE Longitudinal Study of Older Persons). The full results of the research were published in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

Those who report always listening to music show the strongest cognitive benefits. This group has an incidence rate of 39 percent lower dementia and 17 percent lower cognitive impairment.

In addition, they also get better cognitive scores overall and stronger episodic memory capabilities, namely memories used to remember everyday events.

Meanwhile, people who listen to or play music regularly experience a 33 percent decrease in the risk of dementia and a 22 percent decrease in the risk of cognitive disturbances.

According to Jaffa, these findings show that musical activity can be an easy way to reach to help maintain brain health in the elderly. Even so, he stressed that this research could not confirm causal relationships.

These results arise amid the challenges of public health due to an aging population. Longer hopes of living make the number of cases of decreased cognitive and dementia continue to increase, thus burdening families and health care systems.

Professor Ryan stressed it was important to seek effort that could help delay or prevent dementia.

"Because there is no cure for dementia, finding a strategy that can prevent or delay the emergence of this disease is very important," he said, quoted from the Science Daily page.

He also added that brain aging is not only influenced by age and genetic factors, but can also be influenced by a person's environment and lifestyle choices.

"Our research shows lifestyle-based interventions, such as listening to or playing music, can help maintain cognitive health." he explained.