Music to our ears

The study reveals that as people age, they may experience changes in their brains that compromise hearing and that may impair a person's ability to interpret speech.

The researchers note that other studies have shown that these changes are not an inevitable effect of aging, as studies of musicians suggest that lifelong musical training may delay or offset such cognitive declines.

For the study, the participants listened to synthesized speech syllables while the researchers measured activity in the auditory brainstem.

The researchers discovered that, despite not having having played an instrument in nearly 40 years, the participants who completed 4-14 years of music training early in life had the fastest response to the speech sound (approximately a millisecond faster than those without music training).

And while a milliseconnd may not sound that impressive, its effects may be accumulative. Prof. Michael Kigard, who studies how the brain processes sound at the University of Texas at Dallas, and who was not involved in the study, explains:

"Being a millisecond faster may not seem like much, but the brain is very sensitive to timing and a millisecond compounded over millions of neurons can make a real difference in the lives of older adults,"

The Northwestern University team found that the more years study participants spent playing instruments as youths, the faster their brains responded to a speech sound.