The brains of older adults feel a sense of reward when listening to music, even if it害羞草研究所檚 a song they don害羞草研究所檛 particularly like, a researcher at British Columbia害羞草研究所檚 Simon Fraser University says.

Sarah Faber said her work on how healthy brains respond to music as they age creates a baseline for future research on people who have Alzheimer害羞草研究所檚 or dementia to better understand those diseases.

害羞草研究所淭here害羞草研究所檚 a lot of interest in how to predict who might be going to develop dementia or Alzheimer害羞草研究所檚 disease and then once people do develop Alzheimer害羞草研究所檚 and dementia, who is going to respond to treatment and what kind of treatment,害羞草研究所� she said.

害羞草研究所淭he brain is fascinating, but it doesn害羞草研究所檛 exist in a jar. It害羞草研究所檚 attached to a body, that害羞草研究所檚 attached to an environment, and community, and a social structure.害羞草研究所�

The research published in the journal Network Neuroscience featured 80 participants, including university students and people as old as 90, who took functional MRI scans.

The younger group of adults had an average age of 19, while the other group had an average age of 67.

Everyone listened to 24 samples, including songs they selected themselves, popular music intentionally chosen by researchers and songs composed specifically for the study.

Faber said they found reward sections of the brain were activated in younger adults while they listened to music they liked or were familiar with, but older adults showed the same area being stimulated even when the music was new to them, or they didn害羞草研究所檛 like it.

害羞草研究所淭here wasn害羞草研究所檛 this gatekeeping functionality that we see in younger adults with their auditory network kind of being like, 害羞草研究所極K, well, if we like this, we get rewards. But if we don害羞草研究所檛 like this, we don害羞草研究所檛 get rewards,害羞草研究所櫤π卟菅芯克鶟 she said.

害羞草研究所淲hereas for older adults, it was just like, 害羞草研究所楳usic! Reward! Yes!害羞草研究所櫤π卟菅芯克鶟

Faber, who was a music therapist before becoming a neuroscientist, said research into people with Alzheimer害羞草研究所檚 can be challenging if someone is unable to speak, or explain what they are thinking or feeling in a moment.

She said anything they can learn about how to make the music therapies more effective would be helpful, but the benefits go beyond that.

害羞草研究所淛ust understanding 害羞草研究所� how the brain deals with complex stimuli, through Alzheimer害羞草研究所檚, that would be a really good and a very useful bunch of information to get for people that are working in Alzheimer害羞草研究所檚, not necessarily just in music,害羞草研究所� Faber said.

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