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Lifelong musical activity is associated with multi-domain cognitive and brain benefits in older adults

Adriana Böttcher, Alexis Zarucha, Theresa Köbe, Malo Gaubert, Angela Höppner, Klaus Fabel, Slawek Altenstein, Claudia Bartels, Katharina Buerger, Peter Dechent, Laura Dobisch, Michael Ewers, Klaus Fliessbach, Silka Dawn Freiesleben, Ingo Frommann, John Dylan Haynes, Daniel Janowitz, Ingo Kilimann, Luca Kleineidam, Christoph Laske, Franziska Maier, Coraline Metzger, Matthias Munk, Robert Perneczky, Oliver Peters, Josef Priller, Boris-Stephan Rauchmann, Nina Roy, Klaus Scheffler, Anja Schneider, Annika Spottke, Stefan J. Teipel, Jens Wiltfang, Steffen Wolfsgruber, Renat Yakupov, Emrah Duzel, Frank Jessen, Sandra Röske, Michael Wagner, Gerd Kempermann, View ORCID ProfileMiranka Wirth, for the DELCODE study group
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.09.15.460202
Adriana Böttcher
1German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Dresden, Germany
2Cognitive Neurophysiology, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
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Alexis Zarucha
1German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Dresden, Germany
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Theresa Köbe
1German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Dresden, Germany
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Malo Gaubert
1German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Dresden, Germany
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Angela Höppner
1German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Dresden, Germany
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Klaus Fabel
1German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Dresden, Germany
3CRTD – Center for Regenerative Therapies, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
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Slawek Altenstein
4German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Berlin, Germany
5Department of Psychiatry, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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Claudia Bartels
6Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center, University of Goettingen, Goettingen, Germany
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Katharina Buerger
7Institute for Stroke and Dementia Research (ISD), University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
8German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Munich, Germany
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Peter Dechent
9MR-Research in Neurology and Psychiatry, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Goettingen, Germany
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Laura Dobisch
10German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Magdeburg, Germany
11Institute of Cognitive Neurology and Dementia Research (IKND), Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany
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Michael Ewers
8German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Munich, Germany
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Klaus Fliessbach
13German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany
14Department for Neurodegenerative Diseases and Geriatric Psychiatry, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany
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Silka Dawn Freiesleben
5Department of Psychiatry, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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Ingo Frommann
13German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany
14Department for Neurodegenerative Diseases and Geriatric Psychiatry, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany
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John Dylan Haynes
15Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Charité — Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany
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Daniel Janowitz
7Institute for Stroke and Dementia Research (ISD), University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
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Ingo Kilimann
16German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Rostock, Germany
17Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Rostock University Medical Center, Rostock
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Luca Kleineidam
13German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany
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Christoph Laske
18German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Tuebingen, Germany
19Section for Dementia Research, Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research and Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
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Franziska Maier
20Department of Psychiatry, University of Cologne, Medical Faculty, Cologne, Germany
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Coraline Metzger
10German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Magdeburg, Germany
11Institute of Cognitive Neurology and Dementia Research (IKND), Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany
21Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany
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Matthias Munk
18German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Tuebingen, Germany
19Section for Dementia Research, Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research and Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
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Robert Perneczky
8German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Munich, Germany
22Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology (SyNergy) Munich, Munich, Germany
23Ageing Epidemiology Research Unit (AGE), School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK
24Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
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Oliver Peters
4German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Berlin, Germany
5Department of Psychiatry, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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Josef Priller
4German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Berlin, Germany
5Department of Psychiatry, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
25Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University Munich, Munich, Germany
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Boris-Stephan Rauchmann
24Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
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Nina Roy
13German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany
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Klaus Scheffler
26Department for Biomedical Magnetic Resonance, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
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Anja Schneider
13German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany
14Department for Neurodegenerative Diseases and Geriatric Psychiatry, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany
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Annika Spottke
13German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany
27Department of Neurology, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany
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Stefan J. Teipel
16German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Rostock, Germany
17Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Rostock University Medical Center, Rostock
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Jens Wiltfang
6Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center, University of Goettingen, Goettingen, Germany
28German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Goettingen, Germany
29Neurosciences and Signaling Group, Institute of Biomedicine (iBiMED), Department of Medical Sciences, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
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Steffen Wolfsgruber
13German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany
14Department for Neurodegenerative Diseases and Geriatric Psychiatry, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany
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Renat Yakupov
10German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Magdeburg, Germany
11Institute of Cognitive Neurology and Dementia Research (IKND), Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany
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Emrah Duzel
10German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Magdeburg, Germany
11Institute of Cognitive Neurology and Dementia Research (IKND), Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany
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Frank Jessen
13German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany
20Department of Psychiatry, University of Cologne, Medical Faculty, Cologne, Germany
30Excellence Cluster on Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-Associated Diseases (CECAD), University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
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Sandra Röske
13German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany
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Michael Wagner
13German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany
14Department for Neurodegenerative Diseases and Geriatric Psychiatry, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany
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Gerd Kempermann
1German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Dresden, Germany
3CRTD – Center for Regenerative Therapies, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
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Miranka Wirth
1German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Dresden, Germany
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  • ORCID record for Miranka Wirth
  • For correspondence: miranka.wirth@dzne.de
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1 Abstract

Regular musical activity as a highly-stimulating lifestyle activity is proposed to be protective against age-related cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This study investigated associations between lifelong regular musical instrument playing, late-life cognitive abilities and brain morphology in older adults. We show that musical activity over the life course is associated with better global cognition, working memory, executive functions, language, and visuospatial abilities accounting for reserve proxies. Playing music is not significantly associated with gray matter volume in regions most affected by aging and AD. Selectively in the musically active participants, multi-domain cognitive abilities were enhanced with preserved gray matter volume in frontal and temporal regions. Our correlational findings suggest that playing a musical instrument may improve the recruitment of existing brain resources to facilitate late-life cognitive capacities. We propose that engaging in regular musical activity could serve as a low-threshold multimodal enrichment strategy that may promote cognitive resilience in advanced age.

Competing Interest Statement

O. Peters received fees for consultation from Abbvie, Biogen, Eisai, Griffols, MSD Roche, and Schwabe. J. Priller received fees for consultation, lectures, and patents from Neurimmune, Axon, Desitin, and Epomedics. J. Wiltfang is an advisory board member of Abbott, Biogen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Immunogenetics, Lilly, MSD Sharp & Dohme, and Roche Pharma and received honoraria for lectures from Actelion, Amgen, Beeijing Yibai Science and Technology Ltd., Janssen Cilag, Med Update GmbH, Pfizer, Roche Pharma and holds the following patents: PCT/EP 2011 001724 and PCT/EP 2015 052945. J. Wiltfang is supported by an Ilidio Pinho professorship, iBiMED (UIDB/04501/2020) at the University of Aveiro, Portugal. E. Duzel received fees for consultation from Roche, Biogen, RoxHealth and holds shares in neotiv. F. Jessen received fees for consultation from Eli Lilly, Novartis, Roche, BioGene, MSD, Piramal, Janssen, and Lundbeck. The remaining authors report no disclosures relevant to the manuscript.

Footnotes

  • ↵# The members of the DELCODE study group are listed in the acknowledgments.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Lifelong musical activity is associated with multi-domain cognitive and brain benefits in older adults
Adriana Böttcher, Alexis Zarucha, Theresa Köbe, Malo Gaubert, Angela Höppner, Klaus Fabel, Slawek Altenstein, Claudia Bartels, Katharina Buerger, Peter Dechent, Laura Dobisch, Michael Ewers, Klaus Fliessbach, Silka Dawn Freiesleben, Ingo Frommann, John Dylan Haynes, Daniel Janowitz, Ingo Kilimann, Luca Kleineidam, Christoph Laske, Franziska Maier, Coraline Metzger, Matthias Munk, Robert Perneczky, Oliver Peters, Josef Priller, Boris-Stephan Rauchmann, Nina Roy, Klaus Scheffler, Anja Schneider, Annika Spottke, Stefan J. Teipel, Jens Wiltfang, Steffen Wolfsgruber, Renat Yakupov, Emrah Duzel, Frank Jessen, Sandra Röske, Michael Wagner, Gerd Kempermann, Miranka Wirth, for the DELCODE study group
bioRxiv 2021.09.15.460202; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.09.15.460202
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Lifelong musical activity is associated with multi-domain cognitive and brain benefits in older adults
Adriana Böttcher, Alexis Zarucha, Theresa Köbe, Malo Gaubert, Angela Höppner, Klaus Fabel, Slawek Altenstein, Claudia Bartels, Katharina Buerger, Peter Dechent, Laura Dobisch, Michael Ewers, Klaus Fliessbach, Silka Dawn Freiesleben, Ingo Frommann, John Dylan Haynes, Daniel Janowitz, Ingo Kilimann, Luca Kleineidam, Christoph Laske, Franziska Maier, Coraline Metzger, Matthias Munk, Robert Perneczky, Oliver Peters, Josef Priller, Boris-Stephan Rauchmann, Nina Roy, Klaus Scheffler, Anja Schneider, Annika Spottke, Stefan J. Teipel, Jens Wiltfang, Steffen Wolfsgruber, Renat Yakupov, Emrah Duzel, Frank Jessen, Sandra Röske, Michael Wagner, Gerd Kempermann, Miranka Wirth, for the DELCODE study group
bioRxiv 2021.09.15.460202; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.09.15.460202

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