The soundtrack of memory: the effect of music on emotional memory in Alzheimer's disease and older adults

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with impaired emotional memory, though findings are mixed. Music has been shown to enhance or decrease memory. Few studies applied music immediately after encoding in both AD and older adults. The aim of this study is to analyze emotional memory and the effect of music listening on emotional memory in patients with Alzheimer's disease and older adults. Ninety-three patients with AD and ninety-three older adults with low educational levels participated. They viewed positive, negative and neutral pictures, followed by three minutes of either emotionally arousing music, relaxing music, or white noise. Participants then recalled and recognised the pictures. One week later, the recall and recognition tasks were repeated. Participants remembered emotional pictures better than neutral pictures. Emotionally arousing music increased delayed recall in older adults and decreased delayed false recognition in AD. Relaxing music decreased recognition of negative pictures. Emotional memory was relatively spared in AD patients, despite previous findings. Emotionally arousing music enhanced memory in AD patients and older adults, while relaxing music decreased memory for negative stimuli. The results are novel considering the characteristics of the sample (low educational levels), and support the use of emotional stimuli and music-based interventions in these populations.