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Choir Singing For The Prevention Of Dementia
Earlier findings from the Jurong Ageing Study (JAS) have shown that music intervention reduces depressive symptoms.
To further understand how music impacts dementia, a team led by Principal Investigator (PI) Dr Feng Lei, Research Assistant Professor from the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine’s Department of Psychological Medicine, has started a clinical trial in collaboration with the NUS Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music and NUSS Choir to find out whether choral singing can help the elderly with high risk of dementia to slow down or even prevent the onset of the disease as singers work their memory when they learn new songs.
The clinical trial was conducted with a sample size of around 90 senior citizens (Jurong residents), with approximately half of them placed in a choir to practise singing, and the other half in a control group in which they attended a health education programme to learn about how they can have a healthier lifestyle by managing diabetes, diet and exercise – factors that are associated with dementia.
The clinical trial is part of the 10-year longitudinal Jurong Ageing Study, with researchers aiming to study 300 people aged 60 over a period of two years.
