Memory improvement in aging as a function of exposure to mood-matching music

Emma V Ward,Alex Isac,Maria Donnelly,Martine Van Puyvelde,Fabia Franco

doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2020.103206

Emma V Ward, Alex Isac + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2020.103206

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Abstract

This study examined the effect of matching musical emotion and the mood of the listener on working memory and free recall in normal aging. Memory measures were taken at baseline in healthy young and older participants, and, following a happy or sad mood induction, again after exposure to both mood-matching and -mismatching music in a counterbalanced repeated measures design. Compared to baseline, [i] recall was greater following mood-matching than mood-mismatching music in both groups, and was reduced following mood-mismatching music in older adults, [ii] working memory was greater in the mood-matching condition, but did not differ from baseline in the mismatching condition. The results have significant implications for the increasingly popular forms of intervention involving music used with older populations experiencing cognitive decline.

Highlights

Aging is associated with memory decline, and this is not limited to individuals with dementia (Kausler, 1994; Light, 1991; Ward et al, 2013)
Recall was significantly greater following mood-matching than -mismatching music in both young and older adults, and was reduced following mood-mismatching music compared to baseline in older adults
The findings suggest that a match between the emotional characteristics of the music and the mood of the listener has a facilitatory effect on working memory and immediate free recall in normal aging, whether the emotion is positive or negative

Summary

Introduction

Aging is associated with memory decline, and this is not limited to individuals with dementia (Kausler, 1994; Light, 1991; Ward et al, 2013). Never theless, there is evidence that music can bolster memory in healthy older individuals and individuals with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) (e.g., Calvert & Tart, 1993; McElhinney & Annett, 1996; Palisson et al, 2015; Rainey & Larsen, 2002; Simmons-Stern et al, 2010). Moussard et al (2014) compared immediate and delayed recall for sung and spoken lyrics, and reported a benefit of musical encoding only on delayed and not immediate recall

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