SynthesisAging clinical and experimental research2025
Neurobiological effects of music-making interventions for older adults: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Aging clinical and experimental research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Article
- Singing for memory: neural and cognitive effects of a choral intervention in older adults.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundEvidence on the impact of music-making interventions on brain plasticity in older adults is limited.
aimsTo investigate whether music-making interventions in older adults induce neurobiological changes and if such changes relate to cognitive improvements.
methodsA systematic search was conducted in Medline, PsycINFO, and Scopus. Inclusion criteria targeted randomised controlled trials with older adults (with and without mild cognitive impairment [MCI]), music-making interventions as exposure, and neurobiological measures as the primary outcome.
resultsSix studies (555 cognitively intact older adults) met inclusion criteria-five used piano training, one used choral singing. Three studies had overlapping cohorts, and four had a high risk of bias. One study employed electroencephalography (EEG) to measure frontal and parietal activity, while five used structural MRI to assess cortical, subcortical, and white matter integrity. Methodological heterogeneity limited comparability. Findings in the piano group included increased frontal theta power during an improvisation task, greater grey matter volume in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and cerebellum, slower fibre density decline in the fornix and preserved grey matter volume in the right auditory cortex and hippocampus. Only one study reported a positive correlation between neurobiological changes and executive functioning improvements. No studies assessed neurobiological outcomes in MCI. DISCUSSION: Evidence on music-making interventions and neuroplasticity in older adults remains inconclusive due to limited studies, high risk of bias, and methodological variability. While preliminary findings suggest potential neurobiological changes with music-making interventions, there is insufficient evidence to draw firm conclusions.
conclusionsHigh-quality trials are needed to clarify the neurobiological impact of music-making, particularly in MCI populations.
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What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.