经济学人｜演奏音乐对大脑有益吗？

发布时间：2026-03-26 18:29:54  浏览量：2

有趣灵魂说

音乐是良药，还是大脑的“健身操”？从海顿的颅骨传奇到现代脑科学研究，演奏乐器带来的远不止旋律。最新证据表明，无论职业还是业余，持续的音乐训练都能重塑大脑，增强记忆、提升执行功能，甚至缓解疼痛。不同乐器还各有“专长”，哪怕只是聆听，也可能延缓认知衰退。想为大脑做一场优雅的锻炼？这篇文章告诉你答案。

译文为原创，仅供个人学习使用

The Economist ｜Well Informed

经济学人｜洞悉世界

Is playing music good for the brain?

演奏音乐对大脑有益吗？

It would seem so, even for amateurs

即便对业余爱好者而言，答案似乎也是肯定的

Illustration: Cristina Spanò

当年闯入约瑟夫·海顿墓地的那伙人，满心以为他的天才就写在他的头骨上。但若当时能扫描一下这位奥地利作曲家正在腐化的大脑，或许会更有启发。音乐天赋并不会像19世纪那些颅相学家所相信的那样，在头骨上留下凸起。然而，它确实似乎会给大脑留下健康的影响。

演奏音乐是一种脑力锻炼。大脑必须同时协调声音与视觉，以及对精细动作的控制、专注力和想象力。长此以往，这就像锻炼肌肉一样拉伸着大脑的能力。多项研究发现，在某些脑区，职业音乐家的灰质（参与思考、运动和记忆的神经组织）比非音乐家更多。

确凿的证据难以获得，但现有研究暗示可能还有其他益处。2020年的一项研究表明，音乐家可能还拥有更好的执行功能——即大脑中负责规划和解决问题的部分。2017年的一项荟萃分析得出结论，音乐家也拥有更敏锐的记忆力。去年的一项研究则表明，他们甚至可能对疼痛不那么敏感。在这项实验中，40名参与者的手部被注射了一种模拟肌肉酸痛的化合物，结果发现，有音乐经验的受试者报告的疼痛感更轻。毕生为攀登高音而付出的努力，所创造出的远不止美妙的旋律。音乐确实可作良药。

那么，在音乐上早慧的儿童是否具有先发优势？2010年的一篇论文发现，与较晚开始训练的演奏者相比，7岁前开始接受训练的音乐家拥有更大的胼胝体，即连接大脑左右两个半球之间的神经桥。2014年的研究表明，学习乐器还能提高儿童的第二语言习得能力和非语言推理能力。

晚年开始的音乐训练被认为与减缓与年龄相关的认知衰退有关

。一项针对老年人的小型研究表明，继续学习乐器与言语工作记忆和灰质体积的较少退化相关。2021年的一项荟萃分析还发现，

音乐练习与降低患痴呆症的风险之间存在关联

。这些发现究竟是因为擅长音乐的大脑更具韧性，还是因为未患痴呆症的人坚持演奏音乐的时间更长，这是一个棘手的问题，有待未来的研究加以厘清。

你所演奏的乐器可能会带来不同的效果。2024年一项针对1100名英国老年人的研究发现，钢琴演奏者和铜管乐器演奏者平均而言往往拥有更好的工作记忆。木管乐器演奏者则具有更出色的执行功能。歌唱家在言语推理方面表现优异。而那些会演奏多种乐器的"炫耀者"并未显示出额外的神经益处。

此外，当你演奏乐器时，大脑中负责处理愉悦和奖赏的的边缘系统会被激活。当你进入状态时，内啡肽——这种能缓解疼痛的"快乐激素"——会随之涌动。在乐队、管弦乐团或合唱团中表演可以缓解压力并促进社会联系。仅仅是聆听也值得一试。2025年一项针对一万名认知健康的70岁以上老人的观察性研究发现，经常听音乐的人，其认知能力下降的相对风险低39%。然而，要证明其中的因果关系，仍然困难重重。

好消息是，你不必成为音乐天才也能感受到专注而规律练习带来的益处。多项研究发现，持续的训练与业余爱好者和职业音乐家的大脑重组都存在关联。但如果你是一位海顿式的天才，还是考虑为你的墓碑雇个守卫吧。■

The men who raided Joseph Haydn’s grave hoped that his genius would be written on his skull. A scan of the Austrian composer’s decomposing brain may have been more enlightening. Musical talent does not, as those 19th-century phrenologists believed, leave bumps on the cranium. It does, however, seem to make a healthy impression on the brain.

Making music is a mental workout. The brain must simultaneously co-ordinate sound and vision, as well as fine motor control, focus and imagination. Over time this stretches the brain like a muscle. Several studies have found that professional musicians have more grey matter (the neural tissue involved in thinking, movement and memory) in some regions than non-musicians.

Conclusive evidence is hard to come by, but existing research hints that other benefits may accrue. One study from 2020 suggests that musicians may also have better executive function—the part of the brain that helps with planning and problem-solving. A meta-analysis from 2017 concluded that musicians also have a sharper memory. And a study from last year suggested they may even be less sensitive to pain. The experiment, in which 40 participants were injected in the hand with a compound which mimics muscle soreness, found that subjects with musical experience reported less pain. A life spent stretching for high notes creates more than good melodies. Music as medicine indeed.

Might musically precocious children have a head start? A paper from 2010 found that musicians who begin training before the age of seven have a larger corpus callosum, the neural bridge between the brain’s two hemispheres, than later starters. Research from 2014 suggests that learning an instrument also improves children’s second-language acquisition and non-verbal reasoning.

Musical training later in life has been linked to slower age-related decline. A small study on older adults showed that continuing to learn an instrument was associated with less deterioration in verbal working memory and grey-matter volume. A meta-analysis from 2021 also found an association between music practice and reduced risk of developing dementia. Whether these findings arisebecause musical brains are more resilient or because those without dementia keep playing for longer is a knotty question that future studies will need to unpick.

The instrument you play could make a difference. A study from 2024 of 1,100 older Britons found that pianists and brass players tended, on average, to have better working memory. Woodwind players had superior executive function. Singers excelled in verbal reasoning. Show-offs who played several instruments enjoyed no extra neural benefit.

In addition, the brain’s limbic system, which processes pleasure and reward, lights up when you play an instrument. Endorphins, feel-good hormones which relieve pain, flow when you are in the zone. Performing in a band, orchestra or choir eases stress and encourages social bonding. Simply listening may also be worth a try. In 2025 an observational study of 10,000 cognitively sound over-70s found that regular listeners to music had a 39% lower relative risk of cognitive decline. Proof of a causal relationship, however, remains elusive.

The good news is that you don’t have to be a musical genius to feel the benefits of deliberate and regular practice. Studies have found that consistent training correlated with brain reorganisation in amateurs as well as professionals. But if you are a second Haydn, consider hiring a guard at your tombstone. ■