Can Music-induced brain plasticity delay Neurodegenerative Disorders in Musicians? Review and Cases.

Musicians undergo early and intensive training to enhance auditory, sensorimotor, and emotional skills. These abilities are underpinned by brain plasticity, which allows adaptation to demanding and motivating tasks. Musical activity can boost cognitive reserve and slow neurodegenerative diseases; for example, rhythmic movement aids gait in Parkinson's patients, and musicians may develop dementia later, though more research is needed. The chapter also discusses two musicians, Maurice Ravel, likely affected by fronto-temporal dementia with corticobasal degeneration, and Aaron Copland, who probably had Alzheimer's disease.