An ongoing study at the Science of Music, Auditory Research, and Technology Lab—SMART Lab—at Ryerson University in Toronto, is exposing older adults to music—both through listening and participation in a choir—and then testing to see if these experiences change the way their brains process speech in noisy environments, according to an NPR article.

Frank Russo, director of the SMART Lab, has subjects in one group participate in a choir for 10 weeks as well as practice their singing at home utilizing a music training software program. Two control groups—one listening to a variety of music, but not singing, and the other with no exposure to music at all—are being followed as well, according to the article. All the participants are asked to take part in speech-in-noise tests both before and after they’ve concluded the study.

To read the article in its entirety, please visit the NPR website here. 

Source: NPR