The brains of older adults feel a sense of reward when listening to music, even if it香蕉视频直播檚 a song they don香蕉视频直播檛 particularly like, a researcher at British Columbia香蕉视频直播檚 Simon Fraser University says.
Sarah Faber said her work on how healthy brains respond to music as they age creates a baseline for future research on people who have Alzheimer香蕉视频直播檚 or dementia to better understand those diseases.
香蕉视频直播淭here香蕉视频直播檚 a lot of interest in how to predict who might be going to develop dementia or Alzheimer香蕉视频直播檚 disease and then once people do develop Alzheimer香蕉视频直播檚 and dementia, who is going to respond to treatment and what kind of treatment,香蕉视频直播� she said.
香蕉视频直播淭he brain is fascinating, but it doesn香蕉视频直播檛 exist in a jar. It香蕉视频直播檚 attached to a body, that香蕉视频直播檚 attached to an environment, and community, and a social structure.香蕉视频直播�
The research published in the journal Network Neuroscience featured 80 participants, including university students and people as old as 90, who took functional MRI scans.
The younger group of adults had an average age of 19, while the other group had an average age of 67.
Everyone listened to 24 samples, including songs they selected themselves, popular music intentionally chosen by researchers and songs composed specifically for the study.
Faber said they found reward sections of the brain were activated in younger adults while they listened to music they liked or were familiar with, but older adults showed the same area being stimulated even when the music was new to them, or they didn香蕉视频直播檛 like it.
香蕉视频直播淭here wasn香蕉视频直播檛 this gatekeeping functionality that we see in younger adults with their auditory network kind of being like, 香蕉视频直播極K, well, if we like this, we get rewards. But if we don香蕉视频直播檛 like this, we don香蕉视频直播檛 get rewards,香蕉视频直播櫹憬妒悠抵辈 she said.
香蕉视频直播淲hereas for older adults, it was just like, 香蕉视频直播楳usic! Reward! Yes!香蕉视频直播櫹憬妒悠抵辈
Faber, who was a music therapist before becoming a neuroscientist, said research into people with Alzheimer香蕉视频直播檚 can be challenging if someone is unable to speak, or explain what they are thinking or feeling in a moment.
She said anything they can learn about how to make the music therapies more effective would be helpful, but the benefits go beyond that.
香蕉视频直播淛ust understanding 香蕉视频直播� how the brain deals with complex stimuli, through Alzheimer香蕉视频直播檚, that would be a really good and a very useful bunch of information to get for people that are working in Alzheimer香蕉视频直播檚, not necessarily just in music,香蕉视频直播� Faber said.
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