Decades of DJing can physically thicken the brain's auditory cortex
Anatomy
Elderly performers in German clubs are proving that intense focus and rhythmic precision can actually reshape the brain to resist the typical decline of old age.
While most people's hearing and memory begin to fade in their sixties, some German festival DJs are still commanding the decks into their nineties. These veteran performers sustain four-hour sets at high tempos, a feat that requires the executive function of a grandmaster chess player. This constant mental workout causes the auditory cortex—the part of the brain that processes sound—to thicken by fifteen percent compared to a novice.