Moisseinen Nella, Haavisto Alli, Heimala Silja, Martínez-Molina Noelia, Kleber Boris, Sihvonen Aleksi J, Särkämö Teppo
Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Centre of Excellence in Music, Mind, Body and the Brain, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Centre for Brain and Cognition, Department of Information and Communication Technologies, University Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain.
Aging Clin Exp Res. 2025 Sep 4;37(1):272. doi: 10.1007/s40520-025-03187-1.
Our understanding on how cognitive and socioemotional well-being factors interact throughout adulthood has increased remarkably over the past decades, encouraging the use of cognitively engaging leisure activities, such as music, to promote healthy ageing. Choir singing has attracted particular interest in this regard with its established benefits on socioemotional well-being. Outside the clinical context, however, the cognitive and well-being effects induced by musical activities are often studied separately, leaving it unclear to what extent they interact in contributing to healthy ageing.
AIMS & METHODS: Using a balanced sample (N = 95) of healthy adults (aged 21-88 years) with neuropsychological test data (verbal fluency, processing speed, executive function, working memory) and questionnaire data (depression and quality of life, QOL), the present study mapped the benefits of choir singing (duration and frequency) on cognitive functions and well-being and their mediating mechanisms across adulthood.
Choir singing frequency was associated with reduced depressive symptoms, which also mediated effects with QOL. Lifetime duration of choir singing was associated with enhanced episodic memory and verbal fluency, with a mediating effect of semantic verbal fluency on the relationship between choir singing and episodic memory.
DISCUSSION & CONCLUSIONS: These findings convey the co-occurrence of singing-associated benefits and characterise shared mechanisms by which these effects interact in promoting healthy ageing.
在过去几十年里，我们对认知和社会情感幸福感因素在整个成年期如何相互作用的理解有了显著提高，这促使人们利用音乐等具有认知吸引力的休闲活动来促进健康老龄化。唱诗班唱歌在这方面引起了特别关注，因为它对社会情感幸福感有既定的益处。然而，在临床背景之外，音乐活动所引发的认知和幸福感影响往往是分开研究的，这使得它们在促进健康老龄化方面的相互作用程度尚不清楚。
本研究采用了一个平衡样本（N = 95），样本为年龄在21至88岁之间的健康成年人，他们拥有神经心理学测试数据（语言流畅性、处理速度、执行功能、工作记忆）和问卷数据（抑郁和生活质量，QOL），旨在描绘唱诗班唱歌（时长和频率）对成年期认知功能和幸福感的益处及其中介机制。
唱诗班唱歌的频率与抑郁症状减轻相关，抑郁症状减轻也介导了对生活质量的影响。唱诗班唱歌的终生时长与情景记忆增强和语言流畅性提高相关，语义语言流畅性在唱诗班唱歌与情景记忆的关系中起中介作用。
这些发现表明了与唱歌相关的益处是同时出现的，并描述了这些影响在促进健康老龄化过程中相互作用的共同机制。
