Source note · R062
Music interventions in 132 healthy older adults enhance cerebellar grey matter and auditory working memory, despite general brain atrophy
Brain and working-memory outcomes are examined after two forms of music activity in older adults.
- Setting
- Related music & arts
- Kind of evidence
- Intervention studies
- Review extent
- Selected sections reviewed
What was studied
Six-month imaging analyses involving 132 participants from a trial comparing piano instruction and music-culture classes.
What it contributes
Pooling the programs identified selected regional and memory changes, without a whole-brain between-group difference.
Where the evidence stops
Both groups received music activity, so the design cannot separate effects of music from other shared experiences. This paper uses the same trial family as several other records.
One piano and music-culture trial, several outcomes
These papers report different outcomes or subsets from the Swiss-German trial registered as NCT03674931. Sample sizes change with the measure and follow-up. They must not be counted as five independent trials.
About this review
This is a targeted review of selected sections. The record should not be read as an appraisal of the entire work.
Source note updated September 7, 2026. Read our approach to evidence.