Drs. Jennifer Bugos & Jerri Edwards Receive National Endowment for the Arts Grant

Jerri Edwards, PhD, Associate Professor in the School of Aging Studies, College of Behavioral and Community Sciences, is a Co-Investigator on a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grant with Principal Investigator, Jennifer Bugos, PhD, Assistant Professor of Music Education, College of the Arts. Their study will examine the effects of piano training on the cognitive performance and psychosocial well-being of older adults. Not only does music have a well-recognized impact on an individual's emotional state, research shows that music training may also improve brain plasticity, potentially mitigating the effects of an aging brain, preventing cognitive decline and/or improving psychological health.

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) promotes opportunities for people in communities across America to experience the arts and exercise their creativity. In partnership with the Hillsborough County Department of Aging Services, Drs. Bugos and Edwards will employ a randomized, controlled trial study design, comparing such outcome variables as verbal fluency, working memory, mood, self-efficacy, and physiological stress in older adults who receive piano training versus older adults who receive either computer-based auditory training or no treatment at all.