BDN reports on UMaine project that teaches older adults to read, play music
The Bangor Daily News reported on an innovative cognitive research project that teaches older adults to read and play music. The Maine Understanding Sensory Integration and Cognition (MUSIC) Project led by University of Maine psychology professor Rebecca MacAulay and music education professor Philip Edelman, recently wrapped up pilot programs with two groups of older adults in Brewer. Participants in the project, many of whom had never had music lessons, spent 12 weeks learning to read and play music on the recorder. One goal of the study is to understand more about the effects of learning music on the cognitive health of older adults, according to the article. As MacAulay and Edelman prepare to recruit a larger group of participants to start lessons this fall, they also will establish a control group of adults who will listen to and study music without learning to read or play an instrument, the article states. “We expect to see benefits in concentration and working memory function,” MacAulay said of the hands-on group. UMaine students from both departments also will participate in teaching music and administering the cognitive assessments, the BDN reported.