Previous research has shown that music activates the brain in multiple ways, including triggering a positive mood. Nella Moisseinen’s doctoral research discovered that choir singing as a leisure activity has connections to the structure of the brain.
“Our research results suggest that singing in a choir is positively associated not only with subjective wellbeing, but also cognitive function and brain structure throughout adulthood,” says doctoral researcher Moisseinen from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki.
Moisseinen’s research demonstrates that singing in a choir actively, measured by hours per week, is associated with reduced depressive symptoms and a good quality of life in 20–90-year-olds.
Choir singing enhances memory
Choir singing as a life-long hobby was associated with better performance in tasks measuring cognitive function, such as memory and verbal communication.
In particular, in young singers under 40 years, a long history of choir singing was broadly associated with strong connections across structures of the brain in what is known as white matter. White matter connects the various brain regions together and enables information to be transmitted effectively.
In singers over 60 years, the results emphasised memory-supporting connections in the deeper regions of the brain, particularly the fornix and the corpus callosum, the latter of which connects the brain’s right and left hemispheres.
Whereas the neural networks responsible for speech and singing overlap in young adults, age-related changes, especially in the prefrontal cortex function, were more extensive for speech than singing. In other words, similar age-related changes were not observed in neural activity associated with singing, despite the subjects performing three different kinds of speech and singing production tasks during magnetic resonance imaging.
“In practice, the results mean that choir singing is a promising way of supporting healthy ageing and wellbeing throughout adulthood. The extent of the link between choir singing and the connectivity of the brain’s white matter exceeded all our expectations,” explains Moisseinen.
The researcher calls for resources for leisure activities
Ageing of the brain is part of adulthood, with many structural changes starting in early adulthood or even earlier. According to Moisseinen, the objective of her research is not to search for ways to stop ageing-related changes, but to help steer these changes in a direction beneficial to maintaining functional capacity and wellbeing.
“Finland has recently been faced with difficult decisions involving cuts to public funding, some of which have been targeted at the culture sector and related leisure activities. This study and previous research have demonstrated that music activities, among others, can support not only the healthy ageing of the brain but also the wellbeing of different age groups, which would justify investment in leisure activities, even when resources are limited,” muses Moisseinen.
Her doctoral thesis was based on a cross-sectional sample aimed at forming a general understanding of a very broad age group of 20–90. Moisseinen suggests that the results could subsequently be used to study causal relationships in different age groups and also in relation to depressive symptoms and dementia.
Public defence:
Nella Moisseinen will defend her doctoral thesis entitled ‘Neural processing and benefits of singing in the ageing brain’ on 27 February 2026 at 12.00 at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki. See
White matter White matter in the brain is part of the central nervous system. It is primarily composed of axons, or nerve fibres, that transmit information between nerve cells.
In lay terms, white matter functions as a ‘telecommunications network’ in the brain. It connects different regions of the brain and enables information to be efficiently transmitted. White matter enables communication between brain cells and across larger brain regions, helping to coordinate functions such as movement, emotions and cognition.
The condition of white matter is important for brain function, and damage to it can affect mobility and cognitive function.
Corpus callosum
The corpus callosum is the part of the brain that connects the two hemispheres, left and right. It is mainly white matter, made up of nerve fibres. It enables the transmission of information between the cerebral hemispheres, or in simpler terms, serves as a bridge that enables the different regions of the brain to communicate with each other. This is vital for many brain functions, such as language, learning and motor activity.