In a study published in PLoS ONE, Sarah Sauvé from the University of Lincoln in the United Kingdom looked at how well people at a concert could recognize familiar musical themes. About 90 healthy adults, ages 18 to 86, participated in the experiment. A recording of the concert was watched by another 31 people in the lab.
The work focused on three compositions: Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik and two specially commissioned experimental works.
The melodic phrase of Eine kleine Nachtmusik turned out to be equally well recognized by people of all ages and musical preferences. And this ability did not deteriorate with age. The study also found no age differences in performance between participants in the concert and the laboratory.
According to cognitive neuroscientist Steffen Herff of the University of Sydney, the reason why musical memory is so resistant to age-related changes is because of the emotions that music evokes, which makes it stick more firmly in people’s memories.
Source: Ferra
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