Musical and multilingual experience to promote healthy aging: better some than none but even better together

Objectives: Life experiences that are complex, sustained, and intense, such as active participation in music and speaking multiple languages, have been suggested to contribute to maintaining or improving cognitive performance and mental health. The current study focuses on whether lifetime musical and multilingual experiences differentially relate to cognition and well-being in older adults. Furthermore, the current study innovatively focusses on whether there is a cumulative effect of both experiences.  
Method: 11,335 older adults from the population-based Lifelines Cohort Study completed a musical and multilingual background and experience questionnaire. Latent Class Analysis was used to categorize individuals into subgroups according to their various musical and multilingual experiences resulting in 1) a non-musical, non-multilingual group; 2) a non-musical, multilingual group; 3) a musical, non-multilingual group; or 4) a musical multilingual group. To determine whether the groups differed in terms of cognition or emotional affect, differences in Ruff Figural Fluency Test (RFFT) and Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) scores were investigated by means of multinomial logistic regression analysis. 
Results: Having only multilingual experiences is related to better RFFT performance compared to no experience, but not to more positive affect. Having both musical and multilingual experiences is related to better RFFT performance and more positive affect in advanced age compared to having only one experience or none. Importantly, these results were found independently of age, level of education and socio-economic status. 
Discussion: This study is a first foray into comparing different complex life experiences and how they affect cognitive functioning and mental health.