Listening to Music (Especially With This Element Added) Can Reduce Dementia Risk by Almost 40%

Reducing the risk of a life-altering neurodegenerative disease by almost half sounds like it should require some sort of miraculous medicinal intervention, but an increasing number of scientific studies suggest it could be as simple as listening to music. In October 2025, the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry published a study that found an incredibly strong association between mental health in old age and one’s connection to music. The study observed participants who both listened to music and played an instrument.

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Scientists discovered a 39% reduction in dementia risk in individuals who reported they “always” listened to music as opposed to “never,” “rarely,” or “sometimes.” Those who documented themselves as “often” or “always” playing a musical instrument saw a 35% reduction in dementia risk. Individuals who did both showed a 33% reduction. Listening to and playing music also helped reduce the risk of non-dementia cognitive decline. Interestingly, the study found stronger correlations between decreased dementia risk and music in individuals with over 16 years of education, as opposed to those with 15 years or less.

In a study published three months earlier, a different group of researchers found that the brains of older individuals who regularly played an instrument responded to stimuli in a manner that more closely resembled that of younger brains. Their non-musical counterparts, on the other hand, showed greater cognitive decline.

“Just like a well-tuned instrument doesn’t need to be played louder to be heard, the brains of older musicians stay finely tuned thanks to years of training,” the study’s co-author, Dr. Yi Du, told BBC Science Focus.

Music With This Added Might Reduce Dementia Risk Even More

Listening to music of any kind can help reduce the risk of dementia in older individuals. But multiple studies suggest that listening to a specific frequency in tandem with one’s favorite music could be even more effective in minimizing the potential for cognitive decline. Researchers have long touted the benefits of 40 Hz stimulation with both light and sound can reduce Alzheimer’s disease pathology and symptoms in both mice and humans. In 2024, scientists at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing found that combining participants’ favorite music with a 40 Hz stimulus further reduces the risk of dementia.

The Johns Hopkins researchers asked the study participants to listen to their “40 Hz music” for a minimum of one hour per day, preferably three hours before bed. By combining individuals’ favorite music with 40 Hz therapy, participants were more receptive to the treatment, which appears to minimize or reduce dementia-like symptoms. According to the study, this can “improve usability and practical enjoyment” of this specific type of therapy. (Because if a therapy is so unpleasant that no one wants to use it, then what’s the point?)

There are lots of things we can do to maintain our health as we age, and not all of them are always pleasant. And while we’re by no means undermining the importance of eating specific foods, avoiding others, abstaining from alcohol or other drugs, and regularly exercising, listening to music seems to have just as many benefits for our mental health and is arguably way more enjoyable than some of those aforementioned risk-reduction activities. Happy listening!

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