title: Music improves verbal memory encoding while decreasing prefrontal cortex activity: an fNIRS study.
abstract: Listening to music engages the whole brain, thus stimulating cognitive performance in a range of non-purely musical activities such as language and memory tasks. This article addresses an ongoing debate on the link between music and memory for words. While evidence on healthy and clinical populations suggests that music listening can improve verbal memory in a variety of situations, it is still unclear what specific memory process is affected and how. This study was designed to explore the hypothesis that music specifically benefits the encoding part of verbal memory tasks, by providing a richer context for encoding and therefore less demand on the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Twenty-two healthy young adults were subjected to functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) imaging of their bilateral DLPFC while encoding words in the presence of either a music or a silent background. Behavioral data confirmed the facilitating effect of music background during encoding on subsequent item recognition. fNIRS results revealed significantly greater activation of the left hemisphere during encoding (in line with the HERA model of memory lateralization) and a sustained, bilateral decrease of activity in the DLPFC in the music condition compared to silence. These findings suggest that music modulates the role played by the DLPFC during verbal encoding, and open perspectives for applications to clinical populations with prefrontal impairments, such as elderly adults or Alzheimer's patients.
authors: Laboratory for the Study of Learning and Development, CNRS UMR 5022, Department of Psychology, University of Burgundy Dijon, France.
authors: Laura
authors: L
authors: Ferreri
authors: Jean-Julien
authors: JJ
authors: Aucouturier
authors: Makii
authors: M
authors: Muthalib
authors: Emmanuel
authors: E
authors: Bigand
authors: Aurelia
authors: A
authors: Bugaiska
keywords: encoding; fNIRS; music; prefrontal cortex; verbal memory