Effects of Acoustically Screened Five-Element Music Combined with Traditional Chinese Mind–Body Exercises on Emotion Regulation, Working Memory, and Functional Brain Connectivity in Older Adults: A Randomized Repeated-Measures Study

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effects of acoustically screened Five-Element Music combined with traditional Chinese mind–body exercises (Taijiquan and Baduanjin) on emotion regulation, working memory, and functional brain connectivity in older adults. A randomized repeated-measures design was employed, recruiting 42 healthy older adults aged 60–70 years. Participants were assigned to five groups: Five-Element Music alone (FE), Taijiquan (TJ), Baduanjin (BDJ), Five-Element Music combined with Taijiquan (FE+TJ), and Five-Element Music combined with Baduanjin (FE+BDJ). Emotion regulation, working memory, and functional brain connectivity were assessed using an emotion regulation choice task, the N-back task, and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), respectively. Five-Element Music was selected using computational acoustic methods to identify music with therapeutic effects. Significant differences were observed in the acceptance rate of emotion regulation for high-intensity unpleasant pictures across different conditions (p = 0.001). Compared to baseline, the acceptance rate was significantly higher in the FE and FE+TJ conditions (p = 0.027, p = 0.021). Moreover, the acceptance rate in the FE+TJ condition was significantly higher than in the FE condition alone (p = 0.007). Significant differences were found in the average accuracy of the 2-back task across conditions (p = 0.001), with the FE+TJ condition showing significantly higher accuracy than baseline (p = 0.005). The average reaction time in the 2-back task also differed significantly across conditions (p = 0.001), with the FE condition demonstrating a significantly lower reaction time compared to baseline and the FE+BDJ condition (p = 0.003, p = 0.001). Significant differences in functional connectivity (FC) were observed between conditions. Specifically, the FC between CH45 and CH9 and between CH29 and CH6 was significantly higher in the FE+TJ condition than in other conditions (p < 0.02). The combination of Five-Element Music and Taijiquan significantly improved emotion regulation, working memory, and prefrontal–parietal connectivity in older adults. These findings underscore the synergistic benefits of integrating auditory stimulation with mind–body exercise, offering a promising intervention for cognitive and emotional health in aging populations. Future research should investigate long-term effects and broader applications.