Music as an autobiographical memory cue across the lifespan

随着老龄化人口和阿尔茨海默病等相关疾病的稳步增长，需要 对于理解与年龄相关的认知变化是中肯和关键的。认知的一个重要方面 在健康和病态衰老中都会下降的是回忆插曲细节的自传体的能力 回忆。提示生动而详细的自传式记忆的一种潜在方式是通过使用 音乐提示。然而，对于老年人来说，音乐是否是一种特别有效的记忆线索，以及 这种由音乐引起的回忆背后的机制目前尚不清楚。的主要目标是 建议的研究计划是确定音乐是否改善自传体记忆提取 健康的衰老，以及这种由音乐引起的记忆是否会导致积极情绪的增加。这个 这里提出的研究是围绕一个新的框架设计的，该框架提出音乐是一种特别的 有效的记忆线索，可以不由自主地唤起记忆--也就是说，音乐唤起的记忆是自发的 只需很少的认知努力就会浮现在脑海中。这些记忆与自愿找回的记忆形成对比 这可能需要认知能力随着寿命的推移而退化。目标1将 研究自传体记忆提取对音乐和其他感觉线索的反应 寿命。这些研究将检验这样一种预测，即音乐唤起的记忆将在 健康的衰老，并且将以一种更不自觉的方式被唤起，与由其他人唤起的记忆相比 感官暗示。目标2将调查老年人这种由音乐引起的回忆的情绪结果 成年人。我们预测，与之相比，唤起记忆的音乐会导致情绪的长期积极变化 不能唤起回忆的音乐。总体而言，这项工作旨在加深对音乐如何 会影响一生中的自传体记忆和情绪反应。这项工作的结果可能是 为未来使用音乐改善认知功能、情绪和幸福感的干预奠定基础 在老年人身上。

With steady growth of the aging population and associated pathologies such as Alzheimer’s disease, the need for understanding age-related changes in cognition is pertinent and critical. One important aspect of cognition that declines in both healthy and pathological aging is the ability to recall episodically-detailed autobiographical memories. One potential way to cue vivid and detailed autobiographical memories is through the use of musical cues. However, whether music is a particularly effective memory cue for older adults, and the mechanisms underlying such music-induced reminiscence, are currently unknown. The primary goal of the proposed research program is to determine whether music improves autobiographical memory retrieval in healthy aging, and whether such music-induced remembering leads to increased positive emotions. The studies proposed here are designed around a novel framework which proposes that music is a particularly effective memory cue for evoking memories involuntarily – that is, music evokes memories that spontaneously come to mind with little cognitive effort. These memories are in contrast to memories retrieved in a voluntary manner, which may require cognitive capacities that are degraded over the course of the lifespan. Aim 1 will investigate autobiographical memory retrieval in response to musical and other sensory cues across the lifespan. These studies will test the prediction that music-evoked memories will be relatively preserved in healthy aging, and will be evoked in a more involuntary manner, as compared to memories evoked by other sensory cues. Aim 2 will investigate the emotional outcomes of such music-induced reminiscence in older adults. We predict that memory-evoking music will induce prolonged positive changes in mood, as compared to music that does not evoke memories. Overall, this work aims to develop an understanding of how music affects autobiographical memory and emotional responses across the lifespan. The results of this work could form the basis for future interventions which use music to improve cognitive functioning, mood, and wellbeing in older adults.