Abstract
The emotions evoked by music can enhance recognition of excerpts. It has been suggested that memory is better for high than for low arousing music (Eschrich et al., 2005; Samson et al., 2009), but it remains unclear whether positively (Eschrich et al., 2008) or negatively valenced music (Aubé et al., 2013; Vieillard and Gilet, 2013) may be better recognized. Moreover, we still know very little about the influence of age on emotional memory for music. To address these issues, we tested emotional memory for music in young and older adults using musical excerpts varying in terms of arousal and valence. Participants completed immediate and 24 h delayed recognition tests. We predicted highly arousing excerpts to be better recognized by both groups in immediate recognition. We hypothesized that arousal may compensate consolidation deficits in aging, thus showing more prominent benefit of high over low arousing stimuli in older than younger adults on delayed recognition. We also hypothesized worst retention of negative excerpts for the older group, resulting in a recognition benefit for positive over negative excerpts specific to older adults. Our results suggest that although older adults had worse recognition than young adults overall, effects of emotion on memory do not seem to be modified by aging. Results on immediate recognition suggest that recognition of low arousing excerpts can be affected by valence, with better memory for positive relative to negative low arousing music. However, 24 h delayed recognition results demonstrate effects of emotion on memory consolidation regardless of age, with a recognition benefit for high arousal and for negatively valenced music. The present study highlights the role of emotion on memory consolidation. Findings are examined in light of the literature on emotional memory for music and for other stimuli. We finally discuss the implication of the present results for potential music interventions in aging and dementia.
Highlights
It has been well established that emotional events are better memorized than non-emotional events
In the present study we addressed the effect of normal aging on emotional memory, assessing immediate and delayed recognition of musical excerpts by manipulating emotional dimensions, arousal and valence, in young and older adults
Emotional Ratings Preliminary analyses were carried out to test the effect of age on emotional judgment ratings for arousal and valence of musical excerpts
Summary
It has been well established that emotional events are better memorized than non-emotional events (for a review see LaBar and Cabeza, 2006; Bennion et al, 2013; Talmi, 2013). High arousal has been shown to enhance memory both at the initial encoding of events, by boosting attention, as well as during consolidation (for a review see Hamann, 2001; Mather and Sutherland, 2011). Valence refers to the positive or negative emotion of the stimulus. In non-musical domains, both positive and negative stimuli have shown to enhance memory as opposed to non-emotional stimuli (Hamann et al, 1999; Dolcos and Cabeza, 2002). A number of studies speak to a benefit in recognition of negative events as compared to positive events, for words (Inaba et al, 2005) and pictures (Mickley and Kensinger, 2008) suggesting an effect of valence on memory favoring negative stimuli (for a review, see Kensinger, 2007)
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