A current study discovered that long-term musical training can combat age-related decline in audiovisual speech-in-noise understanding by protecting youth-like brain activity and promoting functional payment. The research study highlights how musical training supports effective aging in speech processing and suggests possible opportunities for targeted training programs to protect speech functions in the elderly.
The unprecedented aging of the worlds population is resulting in different forms of cognitive decline, which presents a substantial obstacle for families and society alike. To fight this, it is crucial to carry out effective techniques that support healthy aging.
One appealing method is musical training, which is commonly accessible to the majority of people. Not just does musical training provide a satisfying and aesthetically pleasing experience, but it also provides potential cognitive advantages, particularly for the senior.
In a study published as a cover story in Science Advances, a research study team led by Dr. Du Yi from the Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences discovered that long-lasting musical training might reduce and even combat age-related decrease of audiovisual speech-in-noise perception in older listeners, through functional preservation of youth-like activity patterns in sensorimotor areas, supplemented by functional settlement in frontoparietal and default mode network (DMN) areas.
Older artists, older non-musicians, and young non-musicians participated in this neuroimaging research study.
The scientists discovered that older musicians exceeded older non-musicians and even equaled young non-musicians in identifying audiovisual syllables under loud conditions. By analyzing their brain activity, the researchers revealed two systems that old artists adopt to neutralize aging: practical conservation and functional settlement.
Specifically, older musicians retained neural uniqueness of speech representations in sensorimotor locations at a level similar to young non-musicians, while older non-musicians revealed degraded neural representations. In the same area, older artists showed greater neural alignment (i.e., higher pattern resemblance) in contrast to young non-musicians than older non-musicians did, and this capability was connected with the older artists training strength. Significantly, youth-like brain function anticipated much better audiovisual speech-in-noise understanding performance in older adults.
In addition, the scientists discovered that older musicians, in comparison with older non-musicians, likewise showed higher activation in frontoparietal areas that support multiple jobs throughout domains and greater inhibition in task-irrelevant DMN regions that help avoid interference.
The greater DMN deactivation predicted better audiovisual speech-in-noise efficiency. Furthermore, these 2 systems are synergistic, as higher frontoparietal activation and greater DMN inhibition contributed to more similar neural patterns in sensorimotor areas in older grownups. To put it simply, functional payment even more supported functional conservation.
” Playing music makes older grownups better listeners by preserving younger neural patterns as well as recruiting extra offsetting brain regions. Our study provides empirical evidence to support that playing music keeps your brain sharp, young, and focused,” said Dr. Du, the corresponding author of this study.
This research study provides insights into adaptive brain reorganization in aging populations and how lifelong musical training leads to “successful aging” in speech processing by maintaining vibrant brain qualities and improving compensatory brain scaffolding. The practical conservation of sensorimotor areas together with countervailing DMN deactivation also recommend avenues for more targeted training programs to safeguard speech functions in the senior.
Recommendations: “Successful aging of musicians: Preservation of sensorimotor regions aids audiovisual speech-in-noise understanding” by Lei Zhang, Xiuyi Wang, Claude Alain and Yi Du, 26 April 2023, Science Advances.DOI: 10.1126/ sciadv.adg7056.
Specifically, older musicians maintained neural uniqueness of speech representations in sensorimotor locations at a level comparable to young non-musicians, while older non-musicians revealed degraded neural representations. In the same area, older musicians showed greater neural positioning (i.e., greater pattern resemblance) in comparison to young non-musicians than older non-musicians did, and this capacity was associated with the older musicians training intensity. Notably, youth-like brain function predicted better audiovisual speech-in-noise perception efficiency in older adults.
These two systems are interdependent, as higher frontoparietal activation and higher DMN inhibition contributed to more comparable neural patterns in sensorimotor regions in older adults.
