A team of researchers from Memorial University of Newfoundland (St. John’s, Canada) has reached this conclusion.
Typically, aging takes a toll on memory. Names, events, and timelines can become somewhat blurred over time, even in individuals who have not been diagnosed with dementia or any other neurological condition.
However, a new study has shown that the ability to recall favorite pieces of music can persist even into old age. According to the scientists, the unique connections people form with musical sounds may serve as building blocks that help patients with neurodegenerative diseases create new memories.
What the Researchers Discovered
The researchers involved 90 healthy participants aged 18 to 86 in a study conducted with the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra. Volunteers were asked to listen to three different compositions performed by the orchestra: Mozart’s “Eine kleine Nachtmusik” and two new experimental pieces commissioned specifically for the study from the School of Music at Newfoundland. The first piece, titled “Pirate Waltz,” had a pleasant, classical sound, while the second piece, called “Unexpectedly Absent,” featured atonal, jarring sounds, as reported by Popular Science.
Before performing each piece, the orchestra played the main theme present in each composition. Listeners were asked to memorize this theme. Once the piece was fully performed, participants were instructed to press a button as soon as they heard the main theme again, played by a solo instrumentalist. It turned out that participants in their eighties could identify the themes as accurately as younger individuals.
“Overall, we did not find a significant age effect on the task of recognizing the theme of the musical piece,” the researchers later wrote in their report.
Participants generally recalled the theme from Mozart’s piece much better than from the two new compositions. Regarding the two new pieces, the group remembered the theme from the first one better.
“The absence of an age effect provides encouraging evidence that various musical signals can stimulate cognitive subsystems, enhancing encoding and subsequent recognition,” the researchers noted.
Listeners accurately identified the theme from the Mozart piece they had heard in the past, indicating that this past performance was deeply encoded in their memory. The authors of the study suggested that musical melodies could serve as a “cognitive foundation” that aids in forming and retaining new memories.
“This research once again demonstrates the benefits of using music as a means of cognitive support and learning for older adults, providing evidence that recognition memory is not age-dependent in real listening situations,” the researchers remarked. Consequently, music recognition can be considered a strong point upon which other aspects of recall can be “built” in the rehabilitation of patients with cognitive disorders.
Theoretically, the study suggests that new words or concepts may be easier to remember over time if they are associated with a musical memory.
The results of the study were published in the journal PLOS ONE.