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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Aging and Public Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1475863
This article is part of the Research Topic Analyses on Health Status and Care Needs among Older Adults View all 37 articles

Effect of Tai Chi Combined with Music Therapy on the Cognitive Function in Elderly Individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment

Provisionally accepted
Chunhui Zhou Chunhui Zhou *
  • Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: With the global aging population increasing, cognitive impairment among the elderly, particularly Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), has garnered remarkable attention. MCI, often a precursor to dementia, presents an opportunity for early intervention. This study investigates the effects of Tai Chi combined with music therapy on the cognitive function in elderly individuals with MCI. Methods: In this randomized controlled trial, 66 elderly participants with MCI were randomly assigned to one of the following three groups: a Control Group (CG), a Tai Chi Group (TCG), and a Tai Chi Combined with Music Group (TCMG), with 22 participants in each group. Cognitive function was evaluated over a 12-week intervention using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), and Stroop Color and Word Test.Results: Baseline characteristics showed no significant differences among the groups. The TCG and TCMG exhibited significant improvements after 16-week intervention. The participants with TCG group improved in MoCA score (P = 0.005), attention accuracy (P = 0.031), and delayed recall (P = 0.003). The participants with TCMG showed notable enhancements in MoCA (P = 0.000), MMSE (P = 0.001), attention accuracy (P = 0.025), visuospatial and executive functions (P = 0.001), naming (P = 0.014), abstraction (P = 0.020), and delayed recall (P = 0.006). The CG experienced decreased language repetition ability (P = 0.042) and delayed recall (P = 0.030). Conclusion: 12 weeks of Tai Chi combined with music therapy substantially improved cognitive function in elderly individuals with MCI. This combined intervention is more effective than Tai Chi alone, highlighting its potential as a non-pharmacological approach to enhance cognitive health in the aging population.

    Keywords: Tai Chi, Music Therapy, Cognitive Function, Mild Cognitive Impairment, Dementia

    Received: 04 Aug 2024; Accepted: 02 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Zhou. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Chunhui Zhou, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.