Reverse Aging - Play Guitar!

Learning to play a musical instrument improves your mental acuity - it may reverse your aging process.

First of all, check out Justin Sanderco’s video on neuroplasticity Justin is the founder of a website called JustinGuitar. He is a fabulous teacher and has built and very complete guitar instruction website that continues to grow over the years. He is one of the most interesting people in the industry and this video on neuroplasticiy is simply fascinating. Actually, it’s more than that.

Wow, huh? We need to explore this further. Here quickly are some ways to improve your brain function. Learn a new language, learn to play a musical instrument, travel, explore new places. These activities are important for people at any age, but as people age and brain function slows down, learning to play an instrument is oh so valuable.

Here is what the researchers at Johns Hopkins have to say about it:

“There are few things that stimulate the brain the way music does. If you want to keep your brain engaged throughout the aging process, listening to or playing music is a great tool. It provides a total brain workout.”

“Research has shown that listening to music can reduce anxiety, blood pressure, and pain as well as improve sleep quality, mood, mental alertness, and memory.”

Music Brain — Harvard Medical School

Harvard Medical School reflected on a survey conducted by AARP on the powers of music:

“Active musical engagement, including those over at 50, was associated with higher rates of happiness and good cognitive function. Adults with no early music exposure but who currently engage in some musical activity, playing and listening, show above average mental well-being scores.”

“Music can alter brain structure and function, both after immediate and repeated exposure, according to Silbersweig. For example, musical training over time has been shown to increase the connectivity of certain brain regions. “If you play an instrument like the violin,” he said in a recent Zoom interview, “the areas in your brain that are associated with the frequencies of the violin are more stimulated and the synaptic connections are richer.”

Kennedy Center on Music and Brains

If you would like to dig in a little bit to the technical explanations for all this, start with this article from the Kennedy-Center. It is fascinating and well written.