Singing Bowl Training as a Complementary Therapy for Executive Function in Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional and Randomized Controlled Dual-Validation Study

Abstract

Background Executive function (EF) decline erodes everyday functioning in older adults, yet conventional cognitive and mind–body interventions are often hard to sustain. Singing bowl training (SBT) – a sound-based complementary therapy with low cognitive load and strong external sensory anchoring – may circumvent these barriers.Methods Study 1 compared older adults (n = 200) with versus without singing bowl experience on mindfulness, inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility. Study 2 was an 8-week randomized controlled trial (n = 42) comparing SBT with an active sitting-meditation control, assessed at baseline, week 4, and week 8.Results In Study 1, experienced practitioners showed higher mindfulness (d = 0.92) and working memory (d = 1.45), but not reliably better inhibitory control or cognitive flexibility. In Study 2, SBT outperformed the active control at week 8 on inhibitory control (d = 1.13) and cognitive flexibility (d = 0.83); working memory improved within the SBT group by week 4 without a robust between-group difference, and mindfulness increased in both groups.Conclusions SBT is a feasible, low-barrier complementary therapy that may enhance EF in older adults, particularly inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility after eight weeks; larger trials should confirm these findings.