Playing music while young could result in a sharper mind

The most common musical instrument played by participants in this Scottish survey as children and adolescents was the piano, followed by the accordion and bagpipes. — dpa

Researchers have found a link between children and teenagers who take up a musical instrument and improved thinking skills in old age.

People with more experience of playing a musical instrument showed greater lifetime improvement on a test of cognitive ability than those with less or no experience, a new paper from the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom has said.