Cognitive and Psychological Benefits of Choir Singing in Older Adults

Written by Joyce Smith, BS. This study provides evidence that music and choir singing support better general health and aging.

As our population ages there is an increasing need to generate support and improve the well- being and quality of life of our rapidly increasing elderly population. Age-related neurodegenerative diseases, changes in cognitive functioning as well as the physical and social environment of individuals all impact the wellbeing ¹of older adults. Depression, which has been linked to cognitive decline ², is a known risk factor for dementia ³. Reduced social networks and increased loneliness are also contributing factors ⁴. Recently the role of cultural activities and arts, particularly music, has received attention as potential anti-aging tools ⁵ that could support and improve health and well-being by preventing and managing illness ⁶.

Emerging research utilizing neuroimaging has examined music as a source of well-being, learning and enjoyment during the aging process ⁷. The social isolation and emotional stress brought on by COVID-19 quarantine has encouraged playing music as a coping mechanism and, in some parts of the world, there has even been “singing together from open windows and balconies” to connect and better cope. Music training can greatly enhance cognitive performance, executive function, attention and memory by positively stimulating brain neuroplasticity ⁸. Past research has shown that older musicians are less vulnerable to age-related brain atrophy than their study controls who are not musicians ⁹. Learning to play a musical instrument during old age has been linked to better cognitive flexibility, processing speed, and working memory as well as verbal and non-verbal memory ⁹.

Choir singing, unlike playing a musical instrument, has not been studied for its potential benefits on neuroplasticity and  cognitive functioning during the aging process, yet its popularity is growing rapidly among seniors as evidenced by the  37 million choir singers in Europe today ¹⁰. Now, a recently published study provides evidence that choir singing may engender benefits similar to playing an instrument. Pentikäinen and colleagues ¹¹ hypothesized that choir singers would have better performance in neuropsychological tests, especially in those measuring executive function, and would also experience better emotional, cognitive, and social well-being compared to controls. Using a cross-sectional questionnaire, the team conducted a study on 162 healthy adults aged 60 years and older (106 choir singers, 56 controls). In addition, in a subcohort of 74 participants, they assessed the effect of singing on cognitive health using a neuropsychological testing battery.

The team found evidence that choir singing may engender benefits similar to playing an instrument.  All 106 elderly choir singers had better verbal flexibility than the control group who had no choir singing experience. The choir singers also experienced better social integration and health and had more musical engagement in daily life. Those with a longer history of choir singing (more than 10 years) had a greater feeling of emotional and social connectedness compared to those who sang for less than 10 years (p=0.037) and those in the control group (P=0.023). Furthermore, study subjects who had started choir singing less than 10 years ago were happier with their overall health than those with longer singing experience (p = 0.014) and those in the control group (p = 0.037).

It is not clear why the two choir singing groups showed different effects. For those with less singing experience who joined choirs later in life, Pentikäinen attributes the positive results to the possibility that they may have found the motivation to maintain their health by adhering to an active and healthy lifestyle. For the 10-years plus group of choir singers, Pentikäinen believes the personal and social relationships that developed between the longtime choir members may have become an integral part of their lives, and therefore manifested as a greater feeling of unity and social connectedness.

Limitations include the small number of participants, the cross-sectional aspect of the study which does not prove causation, and the fact that only psychological and no physical health outcomes were determined. The research team is pursuing an ongoing follow-up study which may provide more information; however, their present study does support the benefit of different lifestyle interventions to compliment healthy aging.

Source: Pentikäinen, Emmi, Anni Pitkäniemi, Sini-Tuuli Siponkoski, Maarit Jansson, Jukka Louhivuori, Julene K. Johnson, Teemu Paajanen, and Teppo Särkämö. “Beneficial effects of choir singing on cognition and well-being of older adults: Evidence from a cross-sectional study.” PloS one 16, no. 2 (2021): e0245666.

© 2021 Pentikainen et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Click here to read the full text study.

Posted March 23, 2021.

Joyce Smith, BS, is a degreed laboratory technologist. She received her bachelor of arts with a major in Chemistry and a minor in Biology from  the University of Saskatchewan and her internship through the University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine and the Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. She currently resides in Bloomingdale, IL.

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