Music’s brain boost

GOOD news for those who like crooning to the guitar or tinkling the ivory keys – music has an age-protecting effect on the brain, especially for amateurs. Researchers from Harvard University compared the brains of three groups of people: professional and amateur musicians and non-musicians. Based on the results, ‘brain ages’ were calculated – and compared to peoples’ chronological age.

Non-musical people had the highest brain-age scores, suggesting that ‘music-making has an age-decelerating effect’, the researchers reported.

Amateur musicians had the youngest brains. One theory is that concentrating on one activity might not be as beneficial as having the wider interests of an amateur musicians. Intense music-making activities of a professional could also lead to stress, they say, reducing the positive effect of music-making.