Trial reportBMC geriatrics2024
Acquisition of musical skills and abilities in older adults-results of 12 months of music training.
Trial report in BMC geriatrics, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03674931 (Train the Brain With Music), which is not on this map. Cited by 2 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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.
Train the Brain With Music: Brain Plasticity and Cognitive Benefits Induced by Musical Practice in Elderly People in Germany and Switzerland
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- 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
- Working Memory Predicts Long-Term Recognition of Auditory Sequences: Dissociation Between Confirmed Predictions and Prediction Errors.Scandinavian journal of psychology · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundOlder adults can acquire new skills across different domains. Practicing a musical instrument has been identified as a promising activity for improving cognition, promoting well-being, and inducing brain plasticity in older individuals. However, the mechanisms of these changes are still poorly understood. This study aims to assess musical skill acquisition in musically naïve older adults over one year of practice, focusing on individual factors influencing this process and the relations between musical skills.
methodsOne hundred fifty-six healthy older adults (age = 69.5 years ± 3.2) from Hannover and Geneva with no prior musical training participated in weekly piano practice (PP) or 'music culture' (MC) sessions over a one-year period. Baseline assessments included the Cognitive Reserve Index questionnaire (CRIq) and Cognitive Telephone Screening Instrument (CogTel). Musical abilities were measured using piano performance ratings (PP group), music quizzes (MC group), and aptitude tests such as the Beat Alignment Test (BAT), Melodic Discrimination Test (MDT) and Midi Scale Analysis (MSA) at baseline and six-, twelve and 18-month timepoints. The interrelationship between musical abilities was investigated through correlational analyses, and changes impacted through individual characteristics were modeled using Bayesian statistics.
resultsThe PP group demonstrated moderate improvements in piano articulation and dynamics, while the MC group achieved higher scores in the music quiz. Modest improvements in MDT and MSA were observed in both groups, with the PP group showing greater progress is MSA. Higher global cognitive functioning and musical sophistication was associated with greater performance in MDT for both groups. We did not identify any links between individual characteristics, like age, CogTel, CRIq, and musical sophistication, and improvement in musical aptitude tests. Changes in different musical aptitude test scores were not correlated, and neither the development of piano skills nor the music quiz correlated with initial performances on the musical aptitude tests.
conclusionMusically naïve older adults can acquire diverse musical abilities, which progress independently, suggesting a broad spectrum of musical abilities rather than a single general musical aptitude. Future research should also explore genetic and psychosocial factors influencing musical development.
trial registrationThe Ethikkomission of the Leibniz Universität Hannover approved the protocol on 14.08.17 (no. 3604-2017), the neuroimaging part and blood sampling was approved by the Hannover Medical School on 07.03.18. The full protocol was approved by the Commission cantonale d'éthique de la recherche de Genève (no. 2016-02224) on 27.02.18 and registered at clinicaltrials.gov on 17.09.18 (NCT03674931, no. 81185).
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