Learning a musical instrument in later life might keep your brain younger: Study

3 min readNew DelhiJun 16, 2026 03:14 PM IST

Regularly practising a musical instrument may help older adults preserve memory and reduce age-related brain shrinkage.(Source: File Photo)

A four-year-long study at Japan’s Kyoto University has found that elderly people who practised musical instruments maintained their memory performance and experienced less age-related brain shrinkage.

The benefits were noticeable in brain regions related to memory and learning—the putamen and the cerebellum, which normally shrink and become less active with age.

Neuroscience researchers from the university found that these areas are especially responsive while playing musical instruments. They reported that people who practised a musical instrument for the first time in a four-month period showed improvements in performance tied to memory and putamen function.

After the initial four-month training, around half of the study participants, whose average age was 73, continued practising for over three years, while the others pursued different hobbies.

After four years, MRI scans focusing especially on the putamen and the cerebellum, along with several cognitive assessments, showed declines in verbal working memory and a reduction in grey matter volume within the right putamen among candidates who stopped practising music. But those who continued playing their instruments did not have the same fall in memory performance or the same degree of shrinkage in the putamen.

“We were surprised to find that the effects on the brains of elderly people who start and continue practising an instrument were also concentrated in these two areas of the brain, and that this was an effective way to prevent age-related decline,” Kaoru Sekiyama, the study’s corresponding author, was quoted as saying by the university’s website.

Story continues below this ad

The study concluded that learning and continuing to play a musical instrument might help delay or reduce cognitive changes related to ageing.

“It’s never too late to start playing an instrument, and starting in old age may have major benefits. For those who struggle to engage in physical activity due to body pain or other problems, playing musical instruments can be a great alternative. How fortunate that practising music has such a positive impact on the brain and cognitive function,” Sekiyama added.

(This article has been curated by Seekriti Saha, who is an intern at The Indian Express)