Effects of music participation for mild cognitive impairment and dementia: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Abstract

Objectives: To examine randomized controlled trials with active musicmaking interventions, in which older adults with probable mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia physically participate in music, and their effects on cognitive functioning, emotional well-being, and social engagement.Participating in music-making is engaging and has shown diverse benefits. Additionally, this review categorized the music activities of each intervention.Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Setting: Long-term care facilities, day centers, specialty outpatient units, and community.Methods: Published randomized controlled trials of active music-making interventions to support older adults with probable MCI or dementia were identified (to March 15, 2021) using searches on Medline (Ovid), APA PsycInfo (Ovid), CINAHL (Ebsco), and Embase (Elsevier). The outcomes were cognitive functioning, emotional well-being, and social engagement, including self-and clinician-reported measures such as the Mini-Mental State Examination, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, and the Beck Depression Inventory. Studies were critically appraised and studies with similar methodology were metaanalyzed.Participants: Older adults with probable MCI and mild or moderate dementia.Results: A total of 21 studies with 1472 participants were analyzed for potential effect sizes and intervention activities. Of the 21 studies, nine studies recruiting a total of 495 participants were used to produce a random-effects metaanalytic model for cognitive functioning. Music showed a small, positive effect on cognitive functioning; the combined standard mean difference for the experimental and control group was 0.31 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.10, 0.52). There was low study heterogeneity, with an I 2 of 25% (p = 0.004). Individual studies for emotional well-being in terms of quality of life and mood showed positive effect sizes, d = 1.08 and d = 1.74, respectively. Conclusion: This review shows that music-making has a small but statistically significant effect on cognitive functioning for older adults with probable MCI

Six Months of Piano Training in Healthy Elderly Stabilizes White Matter Microstructure in the Fornix, Compared to an Active Control Group

“…As medications for AD only show limited benefits, musical interventions have become increasingly popular as a tool to sustain cognitive abilities as long as possible ( Leggieri et al, 2019 ). A recent systematic review and meta-analysis ( Dorris et al, 2021 ) could find a small but significant effect of musical training on cognitive functioning in elderly people with probable MCI or dementia. However, they did not discuss any brain correlates to these cognitive improvements.…”

Enhancing Neuroplasticity Is Urgent: Music and Dance for the UN/WHO Decade of Action for Healthy Ageing for All

“…Actively making music has been associated with enhanced intelligence [31,41,96] with neurocognitive and social gains for infants [22] as well as in elders [21,47,51,52]. High engagement in instrumental music activities throughout life could preserve and enhance neurocognition through advanced age [25]; gains can endure for 40 years [49].…”

“…Support for using interactive music intervention to enhance cognitive functioning in elders 65 and older with cognitive dysfunction was found in a review of studies that included 966 participants [51]. A review of recent studies with a total of 495 elders with "probable MCI or dementia" by clinical diagnosis, or whose MMSE scores were "between (and including) 13 and 26", also found improved cognitive functioning after "physically participating in" making music [21].…”

"Non-Pharmacological Interventions that Improve Quality of Life in People with Mild Cognitive Impairment"

“…Besides cognitive training, physical exercise is also popular as a recommendation among in people with MCI [17]. Music-making activities had a moderate effect on QOL compared to control conditions [18]. Social dancing is a combination of physical exercise and social activity; research on older Chinese women living in nursing homes showed that participating in Chinese square dancing groups resulted in higher QOL compared to being in a control group that maintained their usual lifestyle [19].…”