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Music making as a “fountain of youth,” part 3
What if practicing the piano (or another instrument) helped your brain to remain healthy longer in life? Well, in fact, it may do exactly that. Some of the most exciting brain and music research in the past few years shows that older adults who have never had any music lessons show neuroplastic changes in areas…
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Fountain of youth, part 2
Thanks to reader Adrienne Roth, whose comment about the previous post, “Might music making be a fountain of youth?” precipitated today’s post. Adrienne wondered whether “those who love music and read nonstop and continually challenge themselves in art skills have equal opportunity to keep their cognitive skills?” The short answer is “yes!” There are many…
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Might making music be a “fountain of youth?”
Have you ever wondered why so many conductors and pianists continue to perform well into their 80s and 90s? The Swedish-American conductor Herbert Blomstedt (photo at right) is 98, but you wouldn’t know it by his concert schedule. The number of performances on his calendar over the next few months would be the envy of…