Music Engagement and Episodic Memory Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults: A National Longitudinal Analysis.

This study examines the longitudinal relationship between music engagement and episodic memory over more than 12 years in a nationally representative sample of 5,021 cognitively normal middle-aged and older adults in the United States, using data from the Health and Retirement Study (2006–2018). Music engagement was categorized as none, passive (listening), active (singing or playing an instrument), or both passive and active. Results indicate that participants who engaged with music both passively and actively demonstrated better episodic memory performance at baseline and experienced slower memory decline over time compared to those with no music engagement, while passive engagement alone was associated with a slower decline but not baseline differences. No significant cognitive benefits were observed for active engagement alone. The findings suggest that combined passive and active music engagement may help mitigate age-related episodic memory decline, highlighting music engagement as a potential modifiable lifestyle factor for cognitive health in aging populations.