title: Music mnemonics aid Verbal Memory and Induce Learning - Related Brain Plasticity in Multiple Sclerosis.
abstract: Recent research on music and brain function has suggested that the temporal pattern structure in music and rhythm can enhance cognitive functions. To further elucidate this question specifically for memory, we investigated if a musical template can enhance verbal learning in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and if music-assisted learning will also influence short-term, system-level brain plasticity. We measured systems-level brain activity with oscillatory network synchronization during music-assisted learning. Specifically, we measured the spectral power of 128-channel electroencephalogram (EEG) in alpha and beta frequency bands in 54 patients with MS. The study sample was randomly divided into two groups, either hearing a spoken or a musical (sung) presentation of Rey's auditory verbal learning test. We defined the "learning-related synchronization" (LRS) as the percent change in EEG spectral power from the first time the word was presented to the average of the subsequent word encoding trials. LRS differed significantly between the music and the spoken conditions in low alpha and upper beta bands. Patients in the music condition showed overall better word memory and better word order memory and stronger bilateral frontal alpha LRS than patients in the spoken condition. The evidence suggests that a musical mnemonic recruits stronger oscillatory network synchronization in prefrontal areas in MS patients during word learning. It is suggested that the temporal structure implicit in musical stimuli enhances "deep encoding" during verbal learning and sharpens the timing of neural dynamics in brain networks degraded by demyelination in MS.
authors: Center for Biomedical Research in Music, Colorado State University , Fort Collins, CO , USA.
authors: Michael H
authors: MH
authors: Thaut
authors: Computational Neurobiology Laboratory, Salk Institute for Biological Studies , La Jolla, CA , USA ; Institute for Neural Computation, University of California San Diego , La Jolla, CA , USA.
authors: David A
authors: DA
authors: Peterson
authors: Department of Neurology, University of Colorado Health , Fort Collins, CO , USA.
authors: Gerald C
authors: GC
authors: McIntosh
authors: Department of Neurology, SRH Rehabilitation Hospital Bad Wimpfen , Bad Wimpfen , Germany.
authors: Volker
authors: V
authors: Hoemberg
keywords: alpha/beta oscillations; deep encoding; electroencephalogram; learning-related neural synchrony; musical mnemonic; verbal memory