BOOMER Magazine: August 2019

Health Benefits
Music does a body good.
Research has proven music
can do a number of things to
improve both your physical
and mental health, including
reducing stress, anxiety, and
depression.
“Learning to play music keeps the
brain sharper as we get older,”
says Gilbert R. Luceno, MD, a
family medicine physician with
Mercy Medical Group in Roseville.
“According to a study done in April
of 2011 published by the American
Psychological Association, playing an
instrument as a child keeps the mind
sharper as we age. The study, done
at the University of Kansas Medical
Center, recruited 70 healthy adults
ages 60 to 83, who were divided
into groups based on their levels of
musical experience. The musicians
performed better on several cognitive
tests than individuals who
had never studied an
instrument or learned how to read
music."
Music also improves our listening
and reading skills as well as hand-eye
coordination. “A person will need to
learn to listen well to know whether
or not one is hitting the right notes,”
he shares. “Reading sheet music
in order to play specific notes will
enhance a person’s reading skills and
at the same time, playing a musical
instrument requires good hand-eye
coordination.”
Tara McConnell, board certified music
therapist, clinical director and owner
of McConnell Music Therapy Services,
Inc., has been a board-certified music
therapist since 1996. She says all
areas of your brain are simultaneously
working while engaging in playing an
instrument or singing. “There is no
other activity that can do this in quite
the same way, as neuroscience has
discovered,” she says. “It is simply like
a music multi-vitamin for your brain
that increases concentration, focus,
attention, [and] executive functioning,
elevates mood, increases relaxation,
reduces stress, and generally helps
you feel better.”
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42 SacBoomer.com | August 2019