Music Enhances Category Fluency In Healthy Older Adults And Alzheimer's Disease Patients

• Published in: Experimental aging research Vol. 31; no. 1; pp. 91 - 99
• Main Authors: Thompson, R. G., Moulin, C. J. A., Hayre, S., Jones, R. W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia, PA Taylor & Francis Group 01-01-2005; Taylor & Francis
• Subjects: Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Aged; Aging - psychology; Alzheimer Disease - psychology; Analysis of Variance; Attention; Biological and medical sciences; Case-Control Studies; Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases; Female; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Music; Neurology; Organic mental disorders. Neuropsychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Human; Nervous system diseases; Verbal fluidity; Alzheimer disease; Attention; Cognition; Cerebral disorder; Language; Music; Central nervous system disease; Degenerative disease; Categorization; Elderly
• ISSN: 0361-073X; 1096-4657
• DOI: 10.1080/03610730590882819

Exposure to some music, in particular classical music, has been reported to produce transient increases in cognitive performance. The authors investigated the effect of listening to an excerpt of Vivaldi's
Four Seasons
on category fluency in healthy older adult controls and Alzheimer's disease patients. In a counterbalanced repeated-measure design, participants completed two, 1-min category fluency tasks whilst listening to an excerpt of Vivaldi and two, 1-min category fluency tasks without music. The authors report a positive effect of music on category fluency, with performance in the music condition exceeding performance without music in both the healthy older adult control participants and the Alzheimer's disease patients. In keeping with previous reports, the authors conclude that music enhances attentional processes, and that this can be demonstrated in Alzheimer's disease.