CERVO Brain Research Center, Quebec City G1J 2G3, Canada; Université Laval, Faculté de Médecine, Département de Réadaptation, Quebec City G1V 0A6, Canada.
Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest, North York, Ontario M6A 2E1, Canada; University of Toronto, Faculty of Arts and Science, Department of Psychology, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G3, Canada.
Cognition. 2023 Jan;230:105311. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105311. Epub 2022 Nov 1.
The notion that lifestyle factors, such as music-making activities, can affect cognitive functioning and reduce cognitive decline in aging is often referred to as the mental exercise hypothesis. One ubiquitous musical activity is choir singing. Like other musical activities, singing is hypothesized to impact cognitive and especially executive functions. Despite the commonness of choir singing, little is known about the extent to which singing can affect cognition in adulthood. In this cross-sectional group study, we examined the relationship between age and four auditory executive functions to test hypotheses about the relationship between the level of mental activity and cognitive functioning. We also examined pitch discrimination capabilities. A non-probabilistic sample of 147 cognitively healthy adults was recruited, which included 75 non-singers (mean age 52.5 ± 20.3; 20-98 years) and 72 singers (mean age 55.5 ± 19.2; 21-87 years). Tests of selective attention, processing speed, inhibitory control, and working memory were administered to all participants. Our main hypothesis was that executive functions and age would be negatively correlated, and that this relationship would be stronger in non-singers than singers, consistent with the differential preservation hypothesis. The alternative hypothesis - preserved differentiation - predicts that the difference between singers and non-singers in executive functions is unaffected by age. Our results reveal a detrimental effect of age on processing speed, selective attention, inhibitory control and working memory. The effect of singing was comparatively more limited, being positively associated only with frequency discrimination, processing speed, and, to some extent, inhibitory control. Evidence of differential preservation was limited to processing speed. We also found a circumscribed positive impact of age of onset and a negative impact of singing experience on cognitive functioning in singers. Together, these findings were interpreted as reflecting an age-related decline in executive function in cognitively healthy adults, with specific and limited positive impacts of singing, consistent with the preserved differentiation hypothesis, but not with the differential preservation hypothesis.
人们常说，生活方式因素（如音乐创作活动）可以影响认知功能并减缓衰老过程中的认知能力下降，这种观点通常被称为脑力锻炼假说。一种普遍的音乐活动是合唱。与其他音乐活动一样，唱歌被认为会影响认知能力，尤其是执行功能。尽管合唱很常见，但人们对唱歌在成年后能在多大程度上影响认知知之甚少。在这项横断面群组研究中，我们研究了年龄与四种听觉执行功能之间的关系，以检验脑力活动水平与认知功能之间关系的假设。我们还检查了音高辨别能力。我们招募了一个由 147 名认知健康成年人组成的非概率样本，其中包括 75 名非歌手（平均年龄 52.5±20.3；20-98 岁）和 72 名歌手（平均年龄 55.5±19.2；21-87 岁）。所有参与者都接受了选择性注意、处理速度、抑制控制和工作记忆的测试。我们的主要假设是，执行功能和年龄呈负相关，并且这种关系在非歌手比歌手更明显，这与差异保留假说一致。另一种假设——保留分化——预测歌手和非歌手之间的执行功能差异不受年龄影响。我们的结果表明，年龄对处理速度、选择性注意、抑制控制和工作记忆有不利影响。唱歌的影响相对有限，仅与频率辨别、处理速度，在一定程度上与抑制控制呈正相关。差异保留的证据仅限于处理速度。我们还发现，歌手的发病年龄较早和唱歌经验较少对认知功能有正向影响。这些发现共同反映了认知健康成年人执行功能随年龄增长而下降，唱歌有特定和有限的积极影响，这与保留分化假说一致，但与差异保留假说不一致。
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