Radboud University, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Leiden University, Health, Medical & Neuropsychology unit, Institute for Psychology, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Exp Aging Res. 2023 Jul-Sep;49(4):307-320. doi: 10.1080/0361073X.2022.2104061. Epub 2022 Aug 4.
To overcome memory decrements in healthy aging, compensation strategies and mnemonics have been found to be promising. The effects of musical mnemonics in aging have been scarcely studied.
The present study examined the effects of musical presentation of digits (pitch sequences, rhythms, and their combinations) on working memory performance in young and older adults, as compared to spoken presentation.
A facilitating effect of rhythm was found in both groups, whereas pitch and melodic cues affected performance negatively in older adults only. Musical training did not moderate the effect of musical mnemonics.
To investigate whether persons with working memory impairment also benefit from musical mnemonics, follow-up research in older persons with, for instance, mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's dementia is recommended.
为了克服健康老龄化带来的记忆减退，人们发现补偿策略和记忆术有很大的潜力。音乐记忆术在衰老中的作用还很少被研究。
本研究比较了数字的音乐呈现（音高序列、节奏及其组合）与口语呈现对年轻和老年成年人工作记忆表现的影响。
两组都发现了节奏的促进作用，而音高和旋律线索仅对老年人的表现产生负面影响。音乐训练并没有调节音乐记忆术的效果。
为了研究有工作记忆障碍的人是否也能从音乐记忆术中受益，建议对患有轻度认知障碍或阿尔茨海默病等认知障碍的老年人进行后续研究。
