Long-term musical training may help older adults overcome age-related difficulties in understanding speech, according to a study published in PLOS Biology. Researchers found that older musicians perform better in noisy environments than their non-musician peers, thanks to enhanced cognitive reserve.

Normal ageing often reduces sensory and cognitive function, leading the brain to recruit additional neural activity to compensate. However, positive lifestyle factors—like musical training, higher education, and bilingualism—can build cognitive reserve, allowing the brain to maintain more youthful patterns of activity.

In the study, 25 older musicians, 25 older non-musicians, and 24 young non-musicians underwent fMRI scans while identifying syllables masked by noise. Older non-musicians showed the typical age-related increase in connectivity across auditory brain networks, a compensatory response to declining processing. By contrast, older musicians displayed connectivity patterns resembling those of young adults, particularly in the right auditory dorsal stream, which correlated with better speech-in-noise perception.

The findings support the “Hold-Back Upregulation” hypothesis: cognitive reserve built through musical training preserves the brain’s functional networks, reducing the need for overexertion and improving behavioural outcomes.

These results suggest that engaging in music may be a practical way to maintain communication skills and cognitive health into later life.