Can the Ability to Play Steady Beats Be Indicative of Cognitive Aging? Using a Beat Processing Device

This study aimed to examine whether different rhythm idioms significantly affect the reproduction accuracy of older adults and whether the participants’ age and personal current engagement in music affect their ability to reproduce rhythm. A total of 79 older adults participated in the study. Participants were required to reproduce six different rhythm idioms, and their accuracy in rhythm reproduction was measured using the R index. The data were analyzed considering the participants’ age sub-group and current engagement in music. The findings showed differences in reproduction accuracy across various rhythm idioms, particularly in relation to steady recurring notes and dotted notes with different intervals. The highest reproduction accuracy was found for the isochronous beat pattern, while the rhythm idiom starting with longer intervals yielded the lowest accuracy. Age and current personal engagement in music did not significantly affect rhythm performance. However, the study identified a significant correlation between decreased accuracy in reproducing a steady rhythm and diminished general cognitive ability. This study indicates that rhythm performance can be indicative of cognitive abilities related to temporal information processing. The findings support the potential use of rhythm tasks to evaluate cognitive performance in older adults with varying cognitive levels.