LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Researchers at the University of Louisville spent years studying the power of music with aging. Now, they’re spreading that knowledge to older adults.

What You Need To Know

  • UofL’s Music Therapy Clinic uses music to help older adults improve their improve memory 

  • The Optimal Aging Choir brings older adults together to make music

  • The choir meets every Thursday afternoon

For more than 70 years, Jan Ballard has sung ballads.

“The song that I’m going to audition for is, ‘Let the world see.’ I just forgot it,” Ballard said. 

Ballard is 81 years old, and while it can take her a minute or two to recall details, she’s sharp. She said being part of a choir helps with her memory.

“The older songs we grew up with, well, we knew every word of them. But as we age, you know, we just, we’re not up to snuff,” Ballard said. 

Andrew Chapman is a coordinator at UofL’s Music Therapy Clinic. He spoke to an audience at the Nazareth Home in Louisville.

“Music engages every part of our brain, whether it’s our motor centers that involve our movement, our speech centers that involve how we talk and we sing,” Chapman said. 

Chapman said Singing affects all parts of the brain between motor, speech and emotion. He said music can help people reconnect as they get older.

“Music, it’s just it’s a way to lift yourself up even when you’re down,” Ballard said.

Chapman hosts an Optimal Aging Choir every Thursday afternoon.

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