Music improvisation enhances neutral verbal and visual memory in musicians and non-musicians alike

Abstract

Music is a complex activity with great cognitive potential. A specific type of research involves the use of focal music-based interventions implemented only once before, during, or after a task to improve cognitive performance. In the present research, we employed music-based interventions to explore their effects as a memory modulator. We conducted two studies: Study 1, to evaluate neutral verbal memory, and Study 2 to evaluate neutral visual memory. Volunteers, aged 18–40, participated in this investigation (124 musicians and 111 nonmusicians). After the acquisition of verbal or visual information, the volunteers were exposed to music improvisation, music imitation, or a rest condition for 3 min. We evaluated memory through free recall and recognition tasks, with immediate and deferred measures. We found a significant improvement in memory among participants involved in music improvisation, who remembered more verbal and visual information than the imitation and rest condition groups, especially in the deferred measures. We found no differences according to the musical experience. Our results reinforce the idea that music improvisation intervention modulates different types of memory.