I recently read in the June 2025 issue of Scientific American magazine (that someone kindly left behind in the Methodist West hospital lobby) that “the brain uses 20 percent of the body’s energy, despite only constituting 2% of the body’s mass.” This factoid was highlighted in the article “The Social Lives of Mitochondria” by Martin Picard who does a deep dive on the importance of cellular transmissions and posits that mitochondria are much more than just the “powerhouse of the cell” as we all learned in middle school biology. Picard goes on to say a better metaphor might be the “motherboard of the cell.” If the mitochondria aren’t functioning like the communicative, well-oiled machine they were designed to be then many ailments begin, especially on the cognitive front.
As a former caregiver for a loved one with dementia, it’s fair to say I’m mildly obsessed with better understanding brain health. So much scientific evidence indicates that the mind is capable of continual growth through neuroplasticity, but we have to flex that muscle intentionally to maximize the benefit. So, what exactly is neuroplasticity?
Here’s what Wikipedia has to say: “Neuroplasticity, also known as neural plasticity or just plasticity, is the medium of neural networks in the brain to change through growth and reorganization. Neuroplasticity refers to the brain's ability to reorganize and rewire its neural connections, enabling it to adapt and function in ways that differ from its prior state. This process can occur in response to learning new skills, experiencing environmental changes, recovering from injuries, or adapting to sensory or cognitive deficits. Such adaptability highlights the dynamic and ever-evolving nature of the brain, even into adulthood. These changes range from individual neuron pathways making new connections, to systematic adjustments like cortical remapping or neural oscillation…Neuroplasticity was once thought by neuroscientists to manifest only during childhood, but research in the latter half of the 20th century showed that many aspects of the brain can be altered (or are "plastic") even through adulthood.”
In other words, our minds want and need us to keep learning new things. To open new doors. To find new joys. To discover. To heal. To keep on keeping on. We have to mix it up, though, so it finds new pathways and connections to function properly. Just doing the same thing on autopilot is not what the organ that uses 20% of your body’s energy is designed to do — it demands that we to challenge it in new ways, and it will reward us for those efforts.
Learning to play music and make it an active part of your life does not have an age limit. So many of the folk classics are truly three chords and the truth; they are already part of your fabric before you even pick up an instrument. They are designed to be learned and enjoyed by the masses. Folk music is for the people. Learn a few chords, sing some of the classics with friends and then maybe one day try your hand at penning some of your own thoughts down as a song if it feels good.
Fellow Iowa Writers Collaborative Roundup writer Wini Moranville took up the ukulele a few years back and is now out playing shows with her husband David. Wini mentioned to me that learning the ukulele was much friendlier to her hands versus the steel strings and wide necks of most acoustic guitars. Guitars can be harsh this way, so ukuleles are a great instrument for learning. Another finger and chord-friendly instrument is the autoharp. I recently acquired one during a trip to my favorite secondhand store, Vinny’s in Des Moines, and it has been fun to play and simple to learn.
The chords are labeled for playing; so you simply strum while holding down the correct button and voilà—you’re making music! This Land is Your Land is a classic three-to-five chorder perfect for building confidence and stretching skills. Sure seems like a great song for everyone to learn again, too. Here it is for reference and possible inspiration:
This Land Is Your Land (chords)
Woody Guthrie 1945 *
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Land_Is_Your_Land
[Intro]
A D
[Chorus]
G D
This land is your land, and this land is my land
A D D7
From California, to the New York Island
G D
From the Redwood Forest, to the Gulf stream waters,
A A7 D
this land was made for you and me
[Verse]
G D
As I was walking a ribbon of highway
A D D7
I saw above me an endless skyway
G D
I saw below me a golden valley
A A7 D
This land was made for you and me
[Chorus]
G D
This land is your land, and this land is my land
A D D7
From California, to the New York Island
G D
From the Redwood Forest, to the Gulf stream waters,
A A7 D
this land was made for you and me
[Verse]
G D
I've roamed and rambled and I've followed my footsteps
A D D7
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
G D
And all around me a voice was sounding
A A7 D
This land was made for you and me
[Chorus]
G D
This land is your land, and this land is my land
A D D7
From California, to the New York Island
G D
From the Redwood Forest, to the Gulf stream waters,
A A7 D
this land was made for you and me
[Verse]
G D
The sun comes shining as I was strolling
A D D7
The wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling
G D
The fog was lifting a voice come chanting
A A7 D
This land was made for you and me
[Chorus]
G D
This land is your land, and this land is my land
A D D7
From California, to the New York Island
G D
From the Redwood Forest, to the Gulf stream waters,
A A7 D
this land was made for you and me
[Verse]
G D
As I was walkin' - I saw a sign there
A D D7
And that sign said - no tress passin'
G D
But on the other side .... it didn't say nothin!
A A7 D
Now that side was made for you and me!
[Chorus]
G D
This land is your land, and this land is my land
A D D7
From California, to the New York Island
G D
From the Redwood Forest, to the Gulf stream waters,
A A7 D
this land was made for you and me
[Verse]
G D
In the squares of the city - In the shadow of the steeple
A D D7
Near the relief office - I see my people
G D
And some are grumblin' and some are wonderin'
A A7 D
If this land's still made for you and me.
[Chorus]
G D
This land is your land, and this land is my land
A D D7
From California, to the New York Island
G D
From the Redwood Forest, to the Gulf stream waters,
A A7 D
this land was made for you and me
[Outro]
A A7 D
this land was made for you and me
Music also encourages socialization, which we desperately need as humans. Connection to others is important to our well-being and music is easy to enjoy with others whether discussing a song or a new release with a friend, going to a live music show together, singing, dancing, laughing, listening or even hopping into a jam session. It’s a medium and a catalyst gifted to us for the sake of new connection.
The playing of and engaging in music is a fun way to challenge your mind while also experiencing joy in the moment. Music connects the past with the present in a healthy and comforting way. For more than a year now, I’ve been playing a memory loss unit in an assisted living facility in Des Moines. I witnessed the power that music holds for individuals living with dementia when music therapist Ling Yu Hsiao visited us during our caregiver days, and a friend of mine who inspects nursing homes for the state told me that she notices that residents are always happier after there’s been live music. So, I’ve made performing for these good folks part of my music journey and it is quite meaningful for me.
As an Americana country folk artist, my sets are comprised of well-known songs like “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” “Just a Closer Walk with Thee” “Folsom Prison Blues,” and other classics with some storytelling and a few of my originals sprinkled in. I like to include songs with imagery of nature, especially with relevance to current seasons knowing most of these folks simply do not get to enjoy the outdoors the way they once did. Today was both the last day of summer and the first day of fall, so I wore a floral shirt for my performance, and we discussed our favorite elements of fall. They are a very special group, and I’m blessed to share the time with them. We connect through the songs just as we’re designed to do.
According to the NIH National Institue on Aging, more than 7.1 million Americans are currently living with symptoms of Alzheimer’s, and the numbers are predicted to rise in the coming years. Modern life presents a litany of challenges to our long-term brain health — refined sugars, invasive handheld technologies, financial and mental stresses — hence the staggering numbers with the disease, but there are also many encouraging insights to help us as we age longer.
Neuroplasticity and the positive role music plays in our ever-evolving brain is certainly one of them.
To find more stories and insights across the state of Iowa, please consider following and supporting the many talented journalists and storytellers of the Iowa Writer’s Collaborative of which I’m a proud member and looking forward to joining them this weekend at the Okoboji Writers’ and Songwriters’ Retreat this weekend.
All annual paid subscribers to Chip Happens will now receive a copy of my CD compilation, Twenty-Five, that includes 25 original songs from the last 25 years. Thank you for supporting this work and being a part of Chip Happens. Please upgrade your subscription here so I can get you a physical copy for your music collection ASAP. If you are only in the market for the CD, it is available here for (you guessed it) $25 and you can check out the artwork and design below by hitting the play button.
I took piano lessons as a child, my left hand never seemed to communicate with the right hand! I recently brought home a cheap keyboard from my pawnshop to try again. Just hope no one hears me trying to sing. I sound like Waylon Jennings on a bad night!
A good friend of mine took classes to learn sign language. Not because he had an immediate use for it but just to learn something new. Pretty cool idea. Keep learning.