The Effect of Music on Attentional Tasks in Mild CognitiveImpairment Patients and Cognitively Normal Older Adults Open Access

Abstract

Studies in older adults both with and without dementia have demonstrated short term improvements in cognitive processes, such as memory and attention, elicited by listening to music. These studies have suggested that an increase in arousal modulates this enhancement of performance by altering the attentional capabilities of participants, allowing them to block out distractions. This study aimed to further address this hypothesis by studying the attentional abilities of cognitively normal older adults and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients. Studies of music have never included MCI patients, a population with a high conversion rate to an Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnosis. Participants were exposed to both a music and a no music condition, each lasting ten minutes. After each condition, they performed Digit Span and Coding tasks, requiring attention for maximal performance. Analyses testing the hypothesis that listening to music, compared to a condition of silence, would enhance the performance of both subject groups did not show a significant main effect of music on either task (Digit Span, p =0.32; Coding, p = 0.78), suggesting that an alternative mechanism may mediate the enhancing effects of music. Future studies should include larger sample sizes and address issues such as the timing of stimulus presentation, the degree of patient impairment, and the potential influence of anxiety and familiarity of the musical stimulus on performance.

Table of Contents

Abstract................................................................................................1

Introduction...........................................................................................2

Methods................................................................................................8

Results................................................................................................12

Table 1. Individual Participant Digit Span and Coding Scores with Demographics ..........................12

Figure 1. Means of Digit Span Performance for Controls and MCI Patients........13

Figure 2. Means of Coding Performance for Controls and MCI Patients.............15

Table 2. Means (SDs) on the Mattis Dementia Rating Scale for Normal Controls and MCI Patients.......17

Table 3. Percentages for Music Questionnaire Responses for Controls and MCI

Patients.............................................................................................18

Table 4. Years of Current Music Activity for Controls and MCI Patients...........18

Table 5. Hours of Listening to Music per Week for Controls and MCI Patients ....18

Discussion..........................................................................................19

References.........................................................................................25

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology
Degree	BS
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Psychology, Experimental Psychology, Cognitive
Keyword	Arousal hypothesis Vivaldi Music Mild Cognitive Impairment Attention Cognitive Performance Mozart effect
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Goldstein, Felicia, Emory University
Committee Members	Barsalou, Lawrence, Emory University Crutcher, Michael D, Emory University

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