The research
Making music — on our own or with other people — keeps turning up as something measurably good for us. Here’s a growing shelf of research and reporting on what happens when we play, sing, and drum: together most of all, but alone too.
Last updated 2026-06-04.
Frequently listening to music or playing an instrument may help lower the risk of developing dementia, suggests a study published in the October 2025 issue of the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.
Based on 30 studies involving 1,720 people, music-based therapy probably improves depressive symptoms.
Those receiving an active music intervention scored significantly higher than controls on the Mini-Mental State Exam and reported fewer neuropsychiatric symptoms as denoted by the Neuropsychiatric Inventory, post-intervention.
Music engagement should be considered in tandem with other well-established cognitive reserve proxies as a contributor to differential clinical outcomes in older populations at risk of age-related and neuropathological cognitive decline.
Research backs the brain benefits of learning to read and play music later in life.
Playing a musical instrument, in the meta-analysis, was significantly associated with a decreased risk of dementia (HR = 0.64; 95% CI: 0.41, 0.98) among older adults.
Piano training significantly increased verbal fluency skills in category switching, as compared to computer-assisted cognitive training and no-treatment controls.
Group music-making such as choral singing increases connectedness, heightens empathy, reduces depression and improves mood, is arousing and stimulates cognition, and has systemic health benefits.
The results of the meta-analysis showed cognitive and cerebral benefits of musical practice, both in domain-specific functions (auditory perception) and in other rather domain-general functions.
When isolating mothers with moderate–severe symptoms of PND, this result became significant, with a faster improvement in symptoms in the singing group.
Group drumming leads to enhanced psychological states, specifically less depression and greater social resilience.
According to new research, music helps synchronize our bodies and our brains.
Studies find that singing in a choir helps forge social bonds—and it might even make you healthier.
By showing an overlap in activated areas during synchronized drumming and monetary reward, our findings suggest that interpersonal synchrony is related to the brain's reward system.