ArticlePloS one2021
Beneficial effects of choir singing on cognition and well-being of older adults: Evidence from a cross-sectional study.
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 69 citations in OpenAlex.
- Music making and wellbeing: A systematic review of methods, musical activities, and outcomes.Applied psychology. Health and well-being · 2026Pooled it
- Positive impact of social relationships fostered by physical and/or cognitive group activity on older people's quality of life: PRISMA systematic review.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Pooled it
- Quality of life in older adults is enhanced by piano practice: Results from a randomized controlled trial.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Use of Singing for Lung Health as an alternative training modality within pulmonary rehabilitation for COPD: a randomised controlled trial.The European respiratory journal · 2022Trial
- GWAS of Active Music Engagement Frequency in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging.Research square · 2026Article
- Article
- The effect of group singing interventions on health biomarkers in people with stigmatising conditions: a scoping review protocol.Systematic reviews · 2025Article
- Neurocognitive and emotional benefits of choir singing and their mediating factors across adulthood.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2025Article
- Exploring the nature of music-evoked autobiographical memories in healthy aging: A mixed-methods study.Musicae scientiae : the journal of the European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music · 2025Article
- Flow in choral singing: associations with perceived choral memory performance and well-being among older adults.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Developing an Equitable Machine Learning-Based Music Intervention for Older Adults At Risk for Alzheimer Disease: Protocol for Algorithm Development and Validation.JMIR research protocols · 2025Article
- Personality Traits of Choral Singers and Their Association with Perceived Mental Well-Being.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- A Song for the Mind: A Literature Review on Singing and Cognitive Health in Aging Populations.Brain sciences · 2025Review
- Attention, working memory, and inhibitory control in aging: Comparing amateur singers, instrumentalists, and active controls.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2024Article
- The impact of music making on neural efficiency & dual-task walking performance in healthy older adults.Neuropsychology, development, and cognition. Section B, Aging, neuropsychology and cognition · 2024Article
- Choir singing is associated with enhanced structural connectivity across the adult lifespan.Human brain mapping · 2024Article
- Longitudinal effects of choir singing on aging cognition and wellbeing: a two-year follow-up study.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2023Article
- Efficacy of a multicomponent singing intervention on communication and psychosocial functioning in chronic aphasia: a randomized controlled crossover trial.Brain communications · 2023Article
- Music-based interventions in community settings: Navigating the tension between rigor and ecological validity.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
objectivesChoir singing has been associated with better mood and quality of life (QOL) in healthy older adults, but little is known about its potential cognitive benefits in aging. In this study, our aim was to compare the subjective (self-reported) and objective (test-based) cognitive functioning of senior choir singers and matched control subjects, coupled with assessment of mood, QOL, and social functioning. RESEARCH DESIGN AND
methodsWe performed a cross-sectional questionnaire study in 162 healthy older (age ≥ 60 years) adults (106 choir singers, 56 controls), including measures of cognition, mood, social engagement, QOL, and role of music in daily life. The choir singers were divided to low (1-10 years, N = 58) and high (>10 years, N = 48) activity groups based on years of choir singing experience throughout their life span. A subcohort of 74 participants (39 choir singers, 35 controls) were assessed also with a neuropsychological testing battery.
resultsIn the neuropsychological testing, choir singers performed better than controls on the verbal flexibility domain of executive function, but not on other cognitive domains. In questionnaires, high activity choir singers showed better social integration than controls and low activity choir singers. In contrast, low activity choir singers had better general health than controls and high activity choir singers. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: In healthy older adults, regular choir singing is associated with better verbal flexibility. Long-standing choir activity is linked to better social engagement and more recently commenced choir activity to better general health.
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