Assessing the Effect of Musical Experience on Cognitive Function in Older Age: A Coordinated Analysis

Current evidence suggests that older adults with musical experience demonstrate better cognitive functioning relative to those without. However, this difference is poorly characterised and findings are often mixed, possibly due to differences in definitions of musical experience, cognitive measurements, and analytical approaches. To address this, the current study used a coordinated analysis approach to investigate whether there were differences in performance in certain cognitive domains between older adults with musical experience, and those without. Two datasets were used: the Einstein Aging Study (EAS) and the Gothenburg H70 Birth Cohort Studies (H70). Employing stringent matching procedures and combining frequentist and Bayesian approaches, the analysis provided a nuanced view of the data. Domain-level analyses compared cognitive performance between those with and without musical experience in visuospatial abilities and processing speed, memory (H70), memory and vocabulary (EAS), and executive functions. Years of education and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores positively predicted performance across cognitive measures in both datasets. In the H70, those with musical experience significantly outperformed those without in visuospatial abilities, processing speed, memory, and executive function. No significant differences were observed in the EAS. The present findings reaffirm the complexity and variability of the music-cognition relationship. Given that education and MMSE consistently predicted cognitive outcomes, differences between datasets were likely not due to cognitive measures but to specific aspects of group characteristics. Instrument playing, for instance, may offer stronger cognitive benefits than singing, which was the primary difference between music groups across the datasets. This research demonstrates a clear need for future work to employ comprehensive musical experience measures to uncover whether specific components of musical activities contribute to cognitive ability in older adults.