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Is there a dose-response relationship between musical instrument playing and later-life cognition? A cohort study using EPIC-Norfolk data.

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

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Type

Article

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Authors

Walsh, Sebastian 

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Musical instrument playing provides intellectual stimulation, which is hypothesised to generate cognitive reserve that protects against cognitive impairment. Studies to date have classified musicianship as a binary entity. This investigation draws on the dataset of the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer Norfolk study to examine the effect of frequency of playing on later-life cognition. METHODS: We compared three categorisations of self-reported musical playing frequency in late mid-life (12-month period) against cognitive performance measured after a 4-11 year delay, adjusted for relevant health and social confounders. Logistic regression models estimated the adjusted association between frequency of musical playing and the likelihood of being in the top and bottom cognitive deciles. RESULTS: A total of 5,693 participants (745 musicians) provided data on music playing, cognition and all co-variables. Classification of musicianship by frequency of playing demonstrated key differences in socio-demographic factors. Musicians outperformed non-musicians in cognition generally. Compared with non-musicians, frequent musicians had 80% higher odds of being in the top cognitive decile (OR 1.80 [95% CI 1.19-2.73]), whereas musicians playing at any frequency had 29% higher odds (95% CI 1.03-1.62). There was evidence of a threshold effect, rather than a linear dose-response relationship. DISCUSSION: This study supports a positive association between late mid-life musical instrument playing and later-life cognition, although causation cannot be assumed. Musicians playing frequently demonstrated the best cognition. 'Musicians' are a heterogeneous group and frequency of music playing seems a more informative measure than binary classification. Ideally, this more nuanced measure would be collected for different life course phases.

Description

Keywords

cognition, cognitive reserve, music, older people, Cognition, Cognitive Dysfunction, Cohort Studies, Humans, Music, Prospective Studies

Journal Title

Age Ageing

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0002-0729
1468-2834

Volume Title

50

Publisher

Oxford University Press (OUP)

Rights

All rights reserved
Sponsorship
Cancer Research Uk (None)
Medical Research Council (G0401527)
Cancer Research Uk (None)
Medical Research Council (G1000143)
Medical Research Council (G0500300)
Medical Research Council (MR/N003284/1)
Medical Research Council (G0401527/1)
Cancer Research Uk (None)
NIHR ACF