Our world is full of sounds, either verbal or non-verbal, pleasant or unpleasant, meaningful or simply irrelevant noise. Understanding, memorizing, and predicting the sounds, even non-verbal ones which our environment is full of, is a complex perceptuo-cognitive function that we constantly refine by everyday experience and learning. Musical sounds are a peculiar case due to their culture-dependent complexity and hierarchical organization requiring cognitive functions such as memory to be understood, and due to the presence of individuals (musicians) who dedicate their lifetime to master the specifics of those sounds and rules. Thus far, most of the neuroimaging research focused on verbal sounds and how they are processed and stored in the human brain. Only recently, researchers have tried to elucidate the neural mechanisms and structures allowing non-verbal, musical sounds to be modeled, predicted and remembered. However, those neuroimaging studies often provide only a mere snapshot of a complex dynamic process unfolding over time. To capture the complexity of musical memory and cognition, new methods are needed. A promising analysis method is dynamic functional connectivity, which assumes that functional connectivity changes in a short time. We conclude that moving from a locationist to a dynamic perspective on auditory memory might allow us to finally comprehend the neural mechanisms that regulate encoding and retrieval of sounds.

Aging is a phase of life characterized by the increasing risk of occurring neurodegenerative pathologies, as well as stroke and physical decline. Patients in such clinical conditions are known to benefit from programs able to promote the improvement of associated cognitive, functional, and behavioral disorders. In recent times, growing empirical evidence showed the efficacy of active and passive music-based interventions to be the highest when used for healing these diseases. Additionally, very latest research found the combination of electrical neurostimulation with music to have potential utility for clinical older adult populations, as it may amplify the impulse to neuroplasticity and, by consequence, the rehabilitation gains. Reiterating of active music making induces changes in multiple brain regions bringing to the enhancement of cognitive and sensorimotor skills, while merely listening to pleasurable music stimulates dopaminergic regions of the brain improving cognition, motivation, and mood in a variety of neurological diseases. The versatility of music-based interventions in combination with new technologies allows an effective application of innovative therapeutic techniques. Moreover, their easy implementation in healthcare settings and their positive effects on both recovery and patients’ quality of life makes the integration of music-based interventions with conventional rehabilitation approaches highly desirable.