The Neuroscience Between Musical Stimulation and Enhancing Short Term Memory with Age

Abstract

In the field of neuroscience, cognitive memory is at the center of biomedical research. Prior works in cognitive memory all suggest and show that as people age their short term memory slows down and becomes less effective from an accuracy standpoint. This especially becomes apparent in age related memory impairments such as Alzheimer’s. Using musical stimulation this study was focused on finding out if music has an effect on a musician’s short term memory speed and overall accuracy in both auditory and visual memory. Visual and auditory memory are the primary ways in which music is memorized. Along with visual memory motor memory is also tested in musicians as they use muscles when playing an instrument (Chua,  2014). Thus, these two were combined with the aim of finding out if music has an effect on the entire short term memory system. The study focused on all ages ranging from fourteen to the age bracket of sixty and over. Each participant was given the same conditions under which the study was conducted. Using a T-chart analysis the data showed that overall the speed of memory is enhanced with musical stimulation; however, accuracy was statistically insignificant. To avoid the distraction of future participants they should be evaluated one at a time.

Key Words: cognitive memory, auditory, visual, musicians, motor memory