Researchers have found that a simple music test indicates the risk of age-related cognitive decline. And this pathology often precedes the development of senile dementia.
Scientists from Tel Aviv University recruited 50 patients from the inpatient rehabilitation department of one of the geriatric medical centers with an average age of 77 years, as well as another 22 healthy people in the control group. Each went through a mini mental state test to determine cognitive status, the gold standard for assessing intelligence. It is usually conducted by a trained professional and includes many tasks that assess intellectual ability.
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Participants were then played short tunes and asked to press a button when the tune was played. Over time, the task became more complicated, and it was required to press buttons only when using one of some tools. During the test, participants wore an electronic strip on their forehead to measure the electrical activity of the brain or conduct an EEG.
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Using machine learning, researchers found patterns in EEG recordings that matched clinically validated measures of cognitive status. Participants' reaction times and EEG recordings correlated significantly with these measures. This means that the music test is sensitive to even slight changes in intelligence, and it can detect decline in intelligence even before it can be measured using other methods in use. (READ MORE) 
Tel Aviv University
Medicine
one of the largest universities in Israel, located in the Ramat Aviv district of Tel Aviv city