Is playing music good for the brain?

(economist.com)

24 points | by andsoitis 19 hours ago

7 comments

  • xoxxala 14 hours ago
    Playing music while sleeping helps my tinnitus, which helps me sleep, which helps my brain garbage collect. So, in my case at least, the answer is yes.
    • d1sxeyes 13 hours ago
      Can’t tell because of the paywall but I assume this is talking about playing an instrument rather than listening to a record.
      • antinomicus 8 hours ago
        Perhaps the commenter knows this and is just so adept at guitar that they play it in their sleep.
      • para_parolu 12 hours ago
        I wonder if that was AI answer when model didn’t get access to source and just hallucinated comment
        • xoxxala 3 hours ago
          Nope, an AI probably would have written a better comment. I misunderstood the link. Tinnitus has been getting worse, so this subject has literally been on my mind lately.
        • gnabgib 9 hours ago
          It has a hard-paywall (and should be flagged) but you can catch that it's about creating (not listening) from both the image and:

          > Several studies have found that professional musicians have more grey matter (the neural tissue involved in thinking, movement and memory) in some regions than non-musicians.

          Which you might need to visit an ineffective bypass to see that: https://archive.is/F67Gf

  • erelong 7 hours ago
    https://archive.ph/9YZGg

    Edit: appears to cut off article

  • HardwareLust 19 hours ago
    Can't speak for others, but it certainly is for me.
    • kbrkbr 14 hours ago
      For me too. The headline question however was not "Is playing music good for people?", but "Is playing music good for the brain?"

      That's not nearly as easy to answer.

      • HardwareLust 10 hours ago
        If we're talking about long-term benefits, I certainly can't answer that, but I can say all of my interactions with music have been positive from merely listening, learning to play several instruments, learning music theory, etc. Music has been one of the great joys of my life.
  • hermanzegerman 13 hours ago
    Yes it is about playing an instrument

    Bp;dr: Playing an instrument or singing, gives you more gray matter, memory and executive function, and a slower cognitive decline. Playing multiple instruments doesn't have a benefit

    • RickJWagner 13 hours ago
      I’ve played banjo ( for my own pleasure ) for about 10 years. I retired last year, have more time for it, and started attending jams.

      What’s interesting is that many of the best musicians play multiple instruments. The incremental effort to pick up a new instrument must be fairly small. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met that play great guitar, standup bass, and fiddle. ( Banjo and mandolin seem just a little less likely to be included. )

      I hope I get there some day! It looks fun to put down one instrument, pick up another and continue ripping.

      • Slow_Hand 11 hours ago
        I'd liken playing multiple instruments to coding in multiple languages. There's a baseline understanding of the fundamentals that is necessary to overcome in the beginning, but once you get confident with them they transfer across multiple instruments/languages.
  • Squarex 14 hours ago
    It is behind paywall, but the question itself seems like trivial.
  • m4rc3lv 13 hours ago
    Paywall
  • bschmidt1 9 hours ago
    [dead]