Don't stop listening to music.

[Neuro]

Performing musical exercises reduces the likelihood of dementia has been known for a long time. Now a larger study shows that listening to music also reduces the likelihood of dementia. Listening to music has a major impact on whether or not dementia develops.
Possibly there is an underlying variable that is more important. That is, listening only covaries with this variable.
Or what do you think.

Neuro

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1102855

 

[DVDdoug]

I'm sure anything that keeps your mind active "helps" but I'm always skeptical that the cause and effect are reversed... People with (or developing) dementia may lose interest in music, or reading, exercise, or playing chess, etc.

That is, listening only covaries with this variable.

That too.

 

[Fregly]

The article avoids detail cause detail is hard. I assume something inane like loosing interest in anything is associated with dementia over time.

 

[HalSF]

A ten-member university team studies 11,000 people and publishes a peer-reviewed paper reporting their findings in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, but you guys know better.

Science? Pffft. Why is that stupid word in the name of this website? Pls. fix.

 

[MoreWatts]

So me blasting my audio system or television every waking-hour is therapy, and not to drown-out the terrors that are my own thoughts. Woo-hoo!

Wait, maybe that's exactly why it works....

 

[bmc0]

A ten-member university team studies 11,000 people and publishes a peer-reviewed paper reporting their findings in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, but you guys know better.

It's an observational study which cannot establish causation. One of the lead authors said as much (emphasis mine):

According to Ms Jaffa, the findings of the study “suggests music activities may be an accessible strategy for maintaining cognitive health in older adults, though causation cannot be established,”

 

[olds1959special]

I listen to music everyday but still drool uncontrollably.

 

[HalSF]

It's an observational study which cannot establish causation. One of the lead authors said as much (emphasis mine):

Please expand on this. Is this study worthless? Fatally flawed? Poor methodology? Bad science?

 

[ThatM1key]

Can you imagine listening to this just to not have dementia lol

 

[Soandso]

"Mirror" neurons in animal brains would conceivably be involved with the O.P.'s cited research's correlation results. Hearing music via some subset of mirroring has the potential to perform a proxy ("representation of action") function resulting in brain components' activity beyond just the experience of frequency registering.

Below cited (2025) report's focus is not on the O.P. subject, however it does I think indicate some details that may be involved.

And there is this detail regarding differences among parts of the brain found that the below cited researchers measured. Again, it is not about the O.P.'s parameters but I propose is a dimension possibly correlating to the O.P. theme of music listening usage vs. non-usage on certain specific gray matter parts of the aging brain.

 

[bmc0]

Please expand on this. Is this study worthless? Fatally flawed? Poor methodology? Bad science?

None of the above. It just isn't designed to prove a causal relationship.

I don't know enough to give a credible critique on the methodological details of this particular study, but in general, observational studies can tell you if there's statistical correlation between variables but cannot tell you cause and effect. The study shows with good confidence that people over age 70 who regularly engage in musical activities have a decreased risk of dementia and cognitive impairment when compared to those who do not regularly engage in musical activities. It does not, however, prove that musical activities directly cause the risk reduction.

In other words, introducing music as an intervention in the latter group may be ineffective because it could be that it's only a symptom rather than a causitive agent.

The purpose of such a study (to my knowledge) is often to identify things that may be worthy of further investigation. It's much more time consuming and expensive to run a trial capable of establishing causation, so observational studies can provide guidance as to what might have a chance of showing a positive result. A large observational study may be the best we'll actually get for something like this, unfortunately. There's not a lot of money to be made, so securing funding for a proper trial is probably unlikely. On a brighter note, the risk of harm is low—if it turns out that it doesn't really work, well, at least some people will have enjoyed the music.

 

[AlfaNovember]

All I know is, I played that WAP video and scrolled down to Mirror Neurons, and now I'm rolling around on the floor wearing a fishnet catsuit for some reason.

 

[bogart]

None of the above. It just isn't designed to prove a causal relationship.

I don't know enough to give a credible critique on the methodological details of this particular study, but in general, observational studies can tell you if there's statistical correlation between variables but cannot tell you cause and effect. The study shows with good confidence that people over age 70 who regularly engage in musical activities have a decreased risk of dementia and cognitive impairment when compared to those who do not regularly engage in musical activities. It does not, however, prove that musical activities directly cause the risk reduction.

In other words, introducing music as an intervention in the latter group may be ineffective because it could be that it's only a symptom rather than a causitive agent.

The purpose of such a study (to my knowledge) is often to identify things that may be worthy of further investigation. It's much more time consuming and expensive to run a trial capable of establishing causation, so observational studies can provide guidance as to what might have a chance of showing a positive result. A large observational study may be the best we'll actually get for something like this, unfortunately. There's not a lot of money to be made, so securing funding for a proper trial is probably unlikely. On a brighter note, the risk of harm is low—if it turns out that it doesn't really work, well, at least some people will have enjoyed the music.

Great summary! It's easy to forget that randomized controlled trials (RCT's) are difficult and expensive, and even more so the longer they last. They can also be impractical - imagine being assigned into a control group that requires you to cease listening to music entirely and adhering to it strictly. Studies like this screen for interesting relationships without seeking to prove them.

An observational, longitudinal study might be a step up from this one. Once you have the interesting relationship identified, you could seek to track the behavior and the outcome in a smaller population to look for precedence relationships (dementia symptoms coincide with less listening, or less listening precedes dementia symptoms, or...) but still not seek to establish causality. There may be causal inference methods possible as well that can help strengthen the conclusions.

Although junk science is certainly widespread, randomized controlled trials are not a shortcut to identifying junk science. ASR loves ABX tests because we're generally trying to understand if there's a perceptible difference caused by something. That's an appropriate standard at ASR since we're dealing with claims of audibility that can be directly tested.

 

[HalSF]

Grateful for these last few thoughtful responses regarding this kind of study. However circumscribed the implications and conclusions regarding causation and efficacy may be for these findings. it's suggestive and possibly hopeful and encouraging in terms of the musical habits many of us embrace. There are similar associative findings along these lines for the positive effects of hearing aids and a lower risk for dementia and Alzheimer's — possibly related to the benefits of reduced isolation and a stronger sensory connection to other people and voices and the subtleties of one's surroundings. And then there are all those remarkable anecdotes about the way music can inspire singular feats of memory and induce alertness and stimulation in people with dementia and general memory loss. Music's ability to unlock things in our brains and induce energetic responses to aural complexity is likely to be a significant force, even if the neural mechanisms involved are poorly understood.

Anyway, I thought the OP and the posting of this study deserved more that shrugging or scoffing.

 

[Beave]

All I know is, I played that WAP video and scrolled down to Mirror Neurons, and now I'm rolling around on the floor wearing a fishnet catsuit for some reason.

Pics?



(I"m joking. PLEASE do NOT post pics! Thanks in advance for not doing so.)