Music Helps Patients With Severe Brain Injuries Recall Memories

It is well known that music relaxes and reduces stress levels. But a new study has uncovered the importance of music in recovering memories in people with severe brain injuries.

The study documented in the journal Neuropsychological Rehabilitation claims that music helps patients with severe brain injuries recall personal memories. This is the first study to analyze 'music evoked autobiographical memories (MEAMs) in patients with acquired brain injuries (ABIs). It was led by Dr. Amee Baird and Dr. Severine Samson.

The researchers played extracts from 'Billboard Hot 100' top songs in random order to five patients. The songs were taken from the patients' lifespan from age 5 on and the same were also played to five control subjects with no head injuries. The researchers asked the participants to record the rate of familiarity with the given song irrespective of whether they liked it or not.  Most importantly, they were asked to record the memories the songs invoked.

The researchers noticed that the frequency of recorded MEAMs was almost similar in both groups. It was 38-71 percent in patients and 48-71 percent in the control group. The highest number of MEAMs was recorded by one ABI patient. The memories evoked were mostly of a person, people or a life period and had positive associations and the songs that evoked memories were regarded as more familiar and well liked.

The researchers said, "Music was more efficient at evoking autobiographical memories than verbal prompts of the Autobiographical Memory Interview (AMI) across each life period, with a higher percentage of MEAMs for each life period compared with AMI scores. The findings suggest that music is an effective stimulus for eliciting autobiographical memories and may be beneficial in the rehabilitation of autobiographical amnesia, but only in patients without a fundamental deficit in autobiographical recall memory and intact pitch perception."