title: The cognitive effects of listening to background music on older adults: processing speed improves with upbeat music, while memory seems to benefit from both upbeat and downbeat music.
abstract: Background music refers to any music played while the listener is performing another activity. Most studies on this effect have been conducted on young adults, while little attention has been paid to the presence of this effect in older adults. Hence, this study aimed to address this imbalance by assessing the impact of different types of background music on cognitive tasks tapping declarative memory and processing speed in older adults. Overall, background music tended to improve performance over no music and white noise, but not always in the same manner. The theoretical and practical implications of the empirical findings are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Brain Connectivity Center, National Neurological Institute C. Mondino Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bottiroli
authors.affiliation: Brain and Behavioral Sciences Department, University of Pavia Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rosi
authors.affiliation: Brain and Behavioral Sciences Department, University of Pavia Pavia, Italy ; Department of Psychology, University of Essex Essex, UK.
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Russo
authors.affiliation: Brain Connectivity Center, National Neurological Institute C. Mondino Pavia, Italy ; Brain and Behavioral Sciences Department, University of Pavia Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Tomaso
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vecchi
authors.affiliation: Brain and Behavioral Sciences Department, University of Pavia Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cavallini
keywords: aging; arousal; background music; episodic memory; mood; processing speed; semantic memory