Music mnemonics aid Verbal Memory and Induce Learning – Related Brain Plasticity in Multiple Sclerosis

Abstract

Recent research on music and brain function has suggested that the temporal pattern structure in music and rhythm can enhance cognitive functions. To further elucidate this question specifically for memory, we investigated if a musical template can enhance verbal learning in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and if music-assisted learning will also influence short-term, system-level brain plasticity. We measured systems-level brain activity with oscillatory network synchronization during music-assisted learning. Specifically, we measured the spectral power of 128-channel electroencephalogram (EEG) in alpha and beta frequency bands in 54 patients with MS. The study sample was randomly divided into two groups, either hearing a spoken or a musical (sung) presentation of Rey’s auditory verbal learning test. We defined the “learning-related synchronization” (LRS) as the percent change in EEG spectral power from the first time the word was presented to the average of the subsequent word encoding trials. LRS differed significantly between the music and the spoken conditions in low alpha and upper beta bands. Patients in the music condition showed overall better word memory and better word order memory and stronger bilateral frontal alpha LRS than patients in the spoken condition. The evidence suggests that a musical mnemonic recruits stronger oscillatory network synchronization in prefrontal areas in MS patients during word learning. It is suggested that the temporal structure implicit in musical stimuli enhances “deep encoding” during verbal learning and sharpens the timing of neural dynamics in brain networks degraded by demyelination in MS.

Sung melody enhances verbal learning and recall after stroke

“…Additionally, the amusic and the memoryimpaired subjects showed an advantage of sung over spoken task performance in delayed recall (memory-impaired subjects also in the second learning trial) at the 6-month stage. In general, the positive mnemonic effects of the sung stories observed here in all patient subgroups are in line with similar findings from previous studies of persons with MS 25 and AD. [26][27][28] At the neural level, these effects are most likely related to the bilaterality of the temporal, frontal, and limbic networks engaged in processing songs [45][46][47] and to the preservation of vocal music processing in spared brain regions previously reported in amusia and aphasia after stroke using fMRI.…”

“…), very little is yet known about the potential mnemonic effects of songs for learning and recall of novel verbal material in neurological patients. An advantage of sung material over spoken material has previously been observed in the learning and recall of word lists in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, as well as in the recognition of unfamiliar song lyrics in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients . To date, only two studies have assessed the learning of unfamiliar song lyrics in stroke patients with chronic aphasia .…”

Effects of Instructor Gender, Visual, and Auditory Melodic Recorded Instruction on Sequential Working Memory Recall in Individuals with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…As motivational processes directly impact knowledge acquisition and transfer, it would seem that the integration and usage of the iPad® in educational and therapeutic environments should be further explored (Wang, Teng, & Chen, 2015 Care providers often utilize music for social and academic skill attainment (Brownell, 2002;Schwartzberg & Silverman, 2013). Researchers have used melody to assist with the immediate recall of information for individuals with neurologic disabilities (Schwartzberg & Silverman, 2012;Thaut, Peterson, McIntosh, & Hoemberg, 2014). McElhinney and Annett (1996) concluded that there was a better overall recall of familiar words correctly recalled in a song condition than in a reading condition.…”

Quantifying the effects of external factors on individual performance

“…Liking the music is, therefore, one major aspect when seeking positive effects from its listening. Among many other effects, major higher cognitive functions positively affected by music include reading and literacy skills [33], working memory and mathematical abilities [34], memory [35] or concentration and attention [36].…”