Do Musicians Have Better Short-Term Memory Than Nonmusicians? A Multilab Study

Musicians are often regarded as a positive example of brain plasticity and associated cognitive benefits. This emerges when experienced musicians (e.g., musicians with more than 10 years of music training and practice) are compared with nonmusicians. A frequently observed behavioral finding is a short-term memory advantage of the former over the latter. Although available meta-analysis reported that the effect size of this advantage is medium (Hedges’s g = 0.5), no literature study was adequately powered to estimate reliably an effect of such size. This multilab study has been ideated, realized, and conducted in lab by several groups that have been working on this topic. Our ultimate goal was to provide a community-driven shared and reliable estimate of the musicians’ short-term memory advantage (if any) and set a method and a standard for future studies in neuroscience and psychology comparing musicians and nonmusicians. Thirty-three research units recruited a total of 600 experienced musicians and 600 nonmusicians, a number that is sufficiently large to estimate a small effect size (Hedges’s g = 0.3) with a high statistical power (i.e., 95%). Subsequently, we measured the difference in short-term memory for musical, verbal, and visuospatial stimuli. We also looked at cognitive, personality, and socioeconomic factors that might mediate the difference. Musicians had better short-term memory than nonmusicians for musical, verbal, and visuospatial stimuli with an effect size of, respectively, Hedges’s g s = 1.08 (95% confidence interval [CI] = [0.94, 1.22]; large), 0.16 (95% CI = [0.02 0.30]; very small), and 0.28 (95% CI = [0.15, 0.41]; small). This work sets the basis for sound research practices in studies comparing musicians and nonmusicians and contributes to the ongoing debate on the possible cognitive benefits of musical training.

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Publication Details

Journal
Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science
Published
2025-10-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1177/25152459251379432
Citations
4
Primary Topic
Neuroscience and Music Perception
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
5.72
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article

Do Musicians Have Better Short-Term Memory Than Nonmusicians? A Multilab Study

Florian Worschech, Kelly Jakubowski, Jed Villanueva, Bruno Laeng et al.
4 citations
Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science
Neuroscience and Music Perception
5.72
article

Do Musicians Have Better Short-Term Memory Than Nonmusicians? A Multilab Study

Florian Worschech, Kelly Jakubowski, Jed Villanueva, Bruno Laeng, Francisca Leite, Deniz Başkent, Laurel J. Trainor, Kelly L. Whiteford, Axelle Calcus, Suvi Helinä Saarikallio, Mari H. Tervaniemi, Daniel Müllensiefen, Assal Habibi, Daniela Sammler, Andrew J. Oxenham, Edoardo Passarotto, Elvira Brattico, Fleur L. Bouwer, Karla Aguilar, Daniel Mirman, Noah R. Fram, Ana Zappa, Petri Toiviainen, Eleonora Fullone, André Lee, Heidi Marie Umbach Hansen, Rafael Román-Caballero, Alice Poissonnier, Lucrezia Guiotto Nai Fovino, Farrah Y. Sa’adullah, Marco Roccato, Swathi Swaminathan, Steffen A. Herff, Antoni Rodrı́guez-Fornells, Laura Bishop, Christ Billy Aryanto, Neha Rajappa, Eleanor Harding, César F. Lima, Antonio Criscuolo, Anna Fiveash, Francesca Talamini, E. Glenn Schellenberg, Maria Gabriela Menezes Oliveira, Jessica A. Grahn, Hervé Platel, Véronique Drai-Zerbib, Barbara Tillmann, Sonja A. Kotz, Jonathan M. P. Wilbiks, Claudia C. von Bastian, Renee Timmers, Italo Ramon Rodrigues Menezes, Anne Caclin, L. Robert Slevc, Jonathan Fortier, Peter Vuust, Delphine Dellacherie, Caitlin Fitzpatrick, Michaela Ritchie, Katie Overy, Miriam Lense, Massimo Grassi, Reyna L. Gordon, Jessica P. Michael, Filippo Gambarota, Anne Danielsen, Tor Endestad, Keith A. Hawkins, Emily A. Wood, Hannah Strauß, Giulio Carraturo, Laura Ferreri, Barbara Carretti, Gianmarco Altoè, Mathilde Groussard, Victor Cepero-Escribano, Pilar Sánchez, Marcel Zentner, Rachel Thompson, Óscar Daniel, Simone Dalla Bella, Changlin Liu, Séverine Samson, A. K. Kalsi, Nora R. Serres, Aíssa M. Baldé, Ragnya-Norasoa Souffiane, Florian J. Strauch, Nicholas Tantengco, Clara Tuske, Antonia Čerič, Léo Dairain, Anne-Isabelle de Parcevaux, Juliana L. d. B. Fialho, Stefanie Gloggengießer, Veikka P. Holma, Maria G. Jol, Veronica Kandro, Rosaliina Kelo, Gangothri S. Ladegam, Simon P. Limmer, Langley McEntyre, Niloufar Najafi, Jaakko Nokkala, Ndassi Nzonlang, Marie-Elisabeth Plasse, Paula Roncaglia
article en
4 citations

Abstract

Musicians are often regarded as a positive example of brain plasticity and associated cognitive benefits. This emerges when experienced musicians (e.g., musicians with more than 10 years of music training and practice) are compared with nonmusicians. A frequently observed behavioral finding is a short-term memory advantage of the former over the latter. Although available meta-analysis reported that the effect size of this advantage is medium (Hedges’s g = 0.5), no literature study was adequately powered to estimate reliably an effect of such size. This multilab study has been ideated, realized, and conducted in lab by several groups that have been working on this topic. Our ultimate goal was to provide a community-driven shared and reliable estimate of the musicians’ short-term memory advantage (if any) and set a method and a standard for future studies in neuroscience and psychology comparing musicians and nonmusicians. Thirty-three research units recruited a total of 600 experienced musicians and 600 nonmusicians, a number that is sufficiently large to estimate a small effect size (Hedges’s g = 0.3) with a high statistical power (i.e., 95%). Subsequently, we measured the difference in short-term memory for musical, verbal, and visuospatial stimuli. We also looked at cognitive, personality, and socioeconomic factors that might mediate the difference. Musicians had better short-term memory than nonmusicians for musical, verbal, and visuospatial stimuli with an effect size of, respectively, Hedges’s g s = 1.08 (95% confidence interval [CI] = [0.94, 1.22]; large), 0.16 (95% CI = [0.02 0.30]; very small), and 0.28 (95% CI = [0.15, 0.41]; small). This work sets the basis for sound research practices in studies comparing musicians and nonmusicians and contributes to the ongoing debate on the possible cognitive benefits of musical training.

Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological ScienceVol. 8(4)
Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (FR), University of New Brunswick (CA), Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ES), Leiden University (NL), Western University (CA), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), University of Minnesota (US), Allen Institute for Brain Science (US), Université Libre de Bruxelles (BE), University Medical Center Groningen (NL), University of Helsinki (FI), University of Padua (IT), Inserm (FR), Institut Pasteur (FR), École Pratique des Hautes Études (FR), Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia (ID), Universidad de Granada (ES), Université de Bourgogne (FR), University of Oslo (NO), University of Toronto (CA), Durham University (GB), Universität Innsbruck (AT), Tilburg University (NL), Vanderbilt University (US), Aarhus University (DK), Université Paris Cité (FR), Université de Lille (FR), University of Pavia (IT), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (FR), Saint John Regional Hospital (CA), TUM Klinikum (DE), Maastricht University (NL), Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics (DE), Institut d'Investigació Biomédica de Bellvitge (ES), VIZJA University (PL), Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon (FR), Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris (FR), Centre for Research on Brain Language and Music (CA), Hanover University of Music Drama and Media (DE), Iscte – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (PT), Royal Academy of Music (DK), Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Caen Normandie (FR), Helgeland Museum (NO), Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (DE), Cyceron (FR), Universidade Cruzeiro do Sul (BR), Vanderbilt Health (US), Sydney University Musical Society (AU), International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (CA), Université Bourgogne Europe (FR), Goldsmiths University of London (GB), University of Bari Aldo Moro (IT), Western Sydney University (AU), University of Maryland, College Park (US), Université de Montréal (CA), Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp) (BR), Universidade Federal de São Paulo (BR), Vanderbilt University Medical Center (US), University of Sheffield (GB), University of Jyväskylä (FI), McMaster University (CA), University of Edinburgh (GB), Université de Caen Normandie (FR)
Openalex Percentile: Top 4%
Neuroscience and Music Perception
5.72
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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