Effects of years of music exposure on brain imaging and cognition in early-stage cognitive decline: a pilot study

DOI: 10.3233 / JAD-210610

Commentary

Repeated exposure to music has been shown to have a beneficial effect on cognitive performance in AD patients.

However, the brain mechanisms underlying the improvement in cognitive performance are not yet clear. In this pilot study, we proposed to investigate the effect and repeated exposure to music, which has been known for a long time, on imaging indices and corresponding changes in cognitive function in patients with early cognitive decline.

Participants diagnosed as having cognitive decline were assigned to daily well-known music listening for three weeks lasting one hour.

Participants were administered a cognitive battery and their brain activity was measured before and after the intervention.

Fourteen participants, including six musicians and eight non-musicians, completed the music-based intervention. After baseline, brain activity was reduced in key nodes of the music-related network, including the bilateral basal ganglia and right inferior frontal gyrus, as well as frontotemporal functional connectivity and radial diffusivity in the dorsal white matter. Musician status also substantially altered the longitudinal changes in functional and structural brain measures. There was also a significant improvement in the memory subdomain of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment.