Musical Training and Late-Life Cognition.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Gooding LF
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4074275 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jun
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Similar Datasets
Project description:Purpose The aim of this study was to determine the long-term associations of musical training with speech perception in adverse conditions and cognition in a longitudinal cohort study of middle-age to older adults. Method This study is based on Epidemiology of Hearing Loss Study participants. We asked participants at baseline (1993-1995) about their musical training. Speech perception (word recognition in competing message; Northwestern University Auditory Test Number 6), cognitive function (cognitive test battery), and impairment (self-report or surrogate report of Alzheimer's disease or dementia, and/or a Mini-Mental State Examination score ≤ 24) were assessed up to 5 times over the 20-year follow-up. We included 2,938 Epidemiology of Hearing Loss Study participants who had musical training data and at least one follow-up of speech perception and/or cognitive assessment. We used linear mixed-effects models to determine associations between musicianship and decline in speech perception and cognitive function over time and Cox regression models to evaluate associations of musical training with 20-year cumulative incidence of speech perception and cognitive impairment. Models were adjusted for age, sex, and occupation and repeated with additional adjustment for health-related confounders and education. Results Musicians showed less speech perception decline over time with stronger effects in women (0.16% difference, 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.05, 0.26]). Among men, musicians had, on average, better speech perception than nonmusicians (3.41% difference, 95% CI [0.62, 6.20]) and were less likely to develop a cognitive impairment than nonmusicians (hazard ratio = 0.58, 95% CI [0.37, 0.91]). Conclusions Musicians showed an advantage in speech perception abilities and cognition later in life and less decline over time with different magnitudes of effect sizes in men and women. Associations remained with further adjustment, indicating that some degree of the advantage of musical training is independent of socioeconomic or health differences. If confirmed, these findings could have implications for developing speech perception intervention and prevention strategies. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.14825454.
| S-EPMC8632477 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectivePhysical and recreational activities are behaviors that may modify risk of late-life cognitive decline. We sought to examine the role of retrospectively self-reported midlife (age 40) physical and recreational activity engagement - and self-reported change in these activities from age 40 to initial study visit - in predicting late-life cognition.MethodData were obtained from 898 participants in a longitudinal study of cognitive aging in demographically and cognitively diverse older adults (Age: range = 49-93 years, M = 75, SD = 7.19). Self-reported physical and recreational activity participation at age 40 and at the initial study visit were quantified using the Life Experiences Assessment Form. Change in activities was modeled using latent change scores. Cognitive outcomes were obtained annually (range = 2-17 years) using the Spanish and English Neuropsychological Assessment Scales, which measure verbal episodic memory, semantic memory, visuospatial processing, and executive functioning.ResultsPhysical activity engagement at age 40 was strongly associated with cognitive performance in all four domains at the initial visit and with global cognitive slope. However, change in physical activities after age 40 was not associated with cognitive outcomes. In contrast, recreational activity engagement - both at age 40 and change after 40 - was predictive of cognitive intercepts and slope.ConclusionsRetrospectively self-reported midlife physical and recreational activity engagement were strongly associated with late-life cognition - both level of performance and rate of future decline. However, the data suggest that maintenance of recreational activity engagement (e.g., writing, taking classes, reading) after age 40 is more strongly associated with late-life cognition than continued maintenance of physical activity levels.
| S-EPMC10922209 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The human brain has the remarkable capacity to alter in response to environmental demands. Training-induced structural brain changes have been demonstrated in the healthy adult human brain. However, no study has yet directly related structural brain changes to behavioral changes in the developing brain, addressing the question of whether structural brain differences seen in adults (comparing experts with matched controls) are a product of "nature" (via biological brain predispositions) or "nurture" (via early training). Long-term instrumental music training is an intense, multisensory, and motor experience and offers an ideal opportunity to study structural brain plasticity in the developing brain in correlation with behavioral changes induced by training. Here we demonstrate structural brain changes after only 15 months of musical training in early childhood, which were correlated with improvements in musically relevant motor and auditory skills. These findings shed light on brain plasticity and suggest that structural brain differences in adult experts (whether musicians or experts in other areas) are likely due to training-induced brain plasticity.
| S-EPMC2996392 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Pattern recognition on neural activations from naturalistic music listening has been successful at predicting neural responses of listeners from musical features, and vice versa. Inter-subject differences in the decoding accuracies have arisen partly from musical training that has widely recognized structural and functional effects on the brain. We propose and evaluate a decoding approach aimed at predicting the musicianship class of an individual listener from dynamic neural processing of musical features. Whole brain functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data was acquired from musicians and nonmusicians during listening of three musical pieces from different genres. Six musical features, representing low-level (timbre) and high-level (rhythm and tonality) aspects of music perception, were computed from the acoustic signals, and classification into musicians and nonmusicians was performed on the musical feature and parcellated fMRI time series. Cross-validated classification accuracy reached 77% with nine regions, comprising frontal and temporal cortical regions, caudate nucleus, and cingulate gyrus. The processing of high-level musical features at right superior temporal gyrus was most influenced by listeners' musical training. The study demonstrates the feasibility to decode musicianship from how individual brains listen to music, attaining accuracy comparable to current results from automated clinical diagnosis of neurological and psychological disorders.
| S-EPMC5768727 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThe aim of this pilot randomized controlled trial was to test the feasibility of a computerized cognitive training targeting executive dysfunction in late-life depression and to investigate its impact on mood, cognition, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels.MethodsA total of 28 community-living Chinese individuals aged 55-75 with moderate-to-severe depression and cognitive symptoms (but without mild cognitive impairment or dementia) were recruited from a community centre in Hong Kong. Participants were randomly allocated to either the experimental (receiving computerized cognitive training) or the control group (receiving computer-based health education). Both programs lasted for one hour and were conducted twice a week for 6 weeks at the community centre. We assessed mood using the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D) and Patient Health Questionaire-9 (PHQ-9), cognition using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and serum BDNF levels at baseline and follow-up. We performed repeated measures analysis of variance to compare the differences in outcome changes between groups and correlation analysis to test if changes in mood and cognition correlated with changes in BDNF level.ResultsOur sample had a mean age of 66.8 (SD = 5.3) years, a mean HAM-D score of 19.4 (SD = 7.5), and a mean PHQ-9 score of 18.0 (SD = 6.3). No adverse effects were reported. Significant differences were observed between the experimental and control groups in changes in HAM-D (-8.4 vs. -2.9; group difference = -5.5; p = 0.01), PHQ-9 (-6.6 vs. -0.6; -6.0; p < 0.001), MoCA (1.4 vs. -1.3; 2.7; p = 0.001), and serum BDNF levels (in pg/ml; 2088.3 vs. -3277.4; 5365.6; p = 0.02). Additionally, changes in HAM-D, PHQ-9, and MoCA scores correlated significantly with changes in BDNF level.ConclusionWith computerized cognitive training improving mood and cognition and increasing serum BDNF levels in 6 weeks, it may serve as a safe and effective evidence-based alternative or adjuvant treatment for late-life depression.Clinical trial registrationhttps://www.chictr.org.cn/indexEN.html, identifier ChiCTR1900027029.
| S-EPMC10827875 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Although significant changes in both gray and white matter have been noted in late-life depression (LLD), the pathophysiology of implicated white-matter tracts has not been fully described. In this study we examined the integrity of specific white-matter tracts in LLD versus healthy controls (HC).Participants aged ?60 years were recruited from the community. The sample included 23 clinically diagnosed individuals with LLD and 23 HC. White-matter integrity metrics [fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (AD) and radial diffusivity (RD)] were calculated in the bilateral cingulum and uncinate fasciculus. Depression severity was measured using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CESD). Composite scores for learning and memory and executive function were created using standardized neuropsychological assessments.White-matter integrity was lower in LLD versus HC in the bilateral cingulum and right uncinate fasciculus (p?0.05). In the whole sample, depression severity correlated with integrity in the bilateral cingulum and right uncinate fasciculus (p ?0.05). In patients, depression severity correlated with the integrity of the left uncinate fasciculus (p = 0.03); this tract also correlated with executive function (p = 0.02). Among HC, tract integrity did not correlate with depression scores; however, learning and memory correlated with integrity of the bilateral uncinate fasciculus and bilateral cingulum; executive function correlated with the right uncinate and left cingulum (p ?0.05).White-matter tract integrity was lower in LLD than in HC and was associated with depression severity across all participants. Tract integrity was associated with cognition in both groups but more robustly among HC.
| S-EPMC4310501 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Objectives: In this study, we aim to discover whether there are valid subgroups in aging that are defined by modifiable factors and are determinant of clinically relevant outcomes regarding healthy aging. Method: Data from interviews were collected in the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam at two measurement occasions with a 3-year interval. Input for the analyses were seven well-known vulnerability and protective factors of healthy aging. By means of community detection, we tested whether we could distinguish subgroups in a sample of 1478 participants (T1-sample, aged 61-101 years). We tested both the external validity (T1) and predictive validity (T2) for wellbeing and subjective cognitive decline. Moreover, replicability and long-term stability were determined in 1186 participants (T2-sample, aged 61-101 years). Results: Three similar subgroups were identified at T1 and T2. Subgroup A was characterized by high levels of education with personal vulnerabilities, subgroup B by being physically active with low support and low levels of education, and subgroup C by high levels of support with low levels of education. Subgroup C showed the lowest wellbeing and memory profile, both at T1 and T2. On most measures of wellbeing and memory, subgroups A and B did not differ from each other. At T2, the same number of subgroups was identified and subgroup profiles at T1 and T2 were practically identical. Per T1 subgroup 47-62% retained their membership at T2. Discussion: We identified valid subgroups that replicate over time and differ on external variables at current and later measurement occasions. Individual change in subgroup membership over time shows that transitions to subgroups with better outcomes are possible.
| S-EPMC8671814 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundGenetics play a significant role in the etiology of late-life neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and frontotemporal dementia. Part of the individual differences in risk for these diseases can be traced back decades before the onset of disease symptoms. Previous studies have shown evidence for plausible links of apolipoprotein E (APOE), the most important genetic marker for Alzheimer's disease, with early-life cognition and neuroimaging markers. We aimed to assess whether genome-wide genetic burden for the aforementioned neurodegenerative diseases plays a role in early-life processes.MethodsWe studied children from the Generation R Study, a prospective birth cohort. APOE genotypes and polygenic genetic burdens for Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and frontotemporal dementia were obtained through genome-wide genotyping. Non-verbal intelligence was assessed through cognitive tests at the research center around the age of 6 years, and educational attainment through a national school performance test around the age of 11 years. The Child Behavior Checklist was administered around the age of 10 years, and data from the anxious/depressed, withdrawn/depressed, and the internalizing behavior problems scales were used. Children participated in a neuroimaging study when they were 10 years old, in which structural brain metrics were obtained. Lipid serum profiles, which may be influenced by APOE genotype, were assessed from venal blood obtained around the age of 6 years. The sample size per analysis varied between 1,641 and 3,650 children due to completeness of data.ResultsWe did not find evidence that APOE genotype or the polygenic scores impact on childhood nonverbal intelligence, educational attainment, internalizing behavior, and global brain structural measures including total brain volume and whole brain fractional anisotropy (all p > 0.05). Carriership of the APOE ε2 allele was associated with lower and APOE ε4 with higher low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations when compared to APOE ε3/ε3 carriers.ConclusionWe found no evidence that genetic burden for late-life neurodegenerative diseases associates with early-life cognition, internalizing behavior, or global brain structure.
| S-EPMC7018686 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundHigher mid-life body mass index (BMI) is associated with lower late-life cognition. Associations between later-life BMI and cognition are less consistent; evidence suggests reverse causation may play a role. We aimed to characterize associations between BMI and cognition across a wide age range during mid- to late life (55-85 years) and examine whether associations vary by gender.MethodsWe used data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) (N = 39,153) to examine the association between BMI and 3 cognitive outcomes: cognitive level, cognitive decline, and cognitive impairment. We used a series of linear regression, mixed effects regression, and logistic regression models, adjusting for potential confounders.ResultsHigher BMI before age 65 (midlife) was associated with lower cognitive performance, faster rates of cognitive decline, and higher odds of cognitive impairment in late life. Averaging across analyses assessing associations between BMI measured before age 60 and late-life cognition, a 5-unit higher level of BMI was associated with a 0.26 point lower cognitive score. Beyond age 65, associations flipped, and higher BMI was associated with better late-life cognitive outcomes. Associations in both directions were stronger in women. Excluding those with BMI loss attenuated findings among women in older ages, supporting the reverse causation hypothesis.ConclusionsIn this sample, age 65 represented a critical turning point between mid- and late life for the association between BMI and cognition, which has important implications for recruitment strategies for studies focused on risk factors for late-life cognitive outcomes. Evidence of gender differences raises the need to further investigate plausible mechanisms.
| S-EPMC10235201 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThe mediating roles of neuropathologies and neurovascular damage in the relationship between early-life education and later-life cognitive function are unknown.ObjectiveTo examine whether Alzheimer's and neurovascular biomarkers mediate the relationships between education and cognitive functions.MethodsData were from 537 adults aged 55-94 in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative 3. We tested whether the relationships between education (continuous, years) and cognitive function (memory, executive functioning, and language composites) were mediated by neuroimaging biomarkers (hippocampal volumes, cortical gray matter volumes, meta-temporal tau PET standard uptake value ratio, and white matter hyperintensity volumes). Models were adjusted for age, race, sex/gender, cardiovascular history, body mass index, depression, and Apolipoprotein E-ɛ4 status.ResultsHippocampal volumes and white matter hyperintensities partially mediated the relationships between education and cognitive function across all domains (6.43% to 15.72% mediated). The direct effects of education on each cognitive domain were strong and statistically significant.ConclusionsCommonly measured neurobiomarkers only partially mediate the relationships between education and multi-domain cognitive function.
| S-EPMC10578223 | biostudies-literature