Names Are Hard To Remember When Music Is Playing

Listening to music can be both relaxing and fun. Yet did you know it may cause you to forget names?

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology looked to replicate everyday life sounds to see how this might affect working memory.

They challenged younger and older adults to listen to music while trying to remember names. While college-aged participants did not have any trouble remembering names, 10 percent of older adults remembered fewer names after listening to background music or musical rain when compared to silence.

Meanwhile, the participants looked a series of faces and names and were asked if the person "looked like" the assigned name.

Furthermore, the faces were shown again a few minutes later to help determine if participants could tell if the name and the face combinations were the same as before. Some did the test without music, while lesser-known songs from various bands were played other times.

"Both age groups agreed that the music was distracting," said lead study author Sarah Reaves of Georgia Tech, in a news release. "But only the older adults struggled while it was playing in the background."

The researchers linked the results with well-known cocktail party effects, showing a phenomenon that allows people to primarily focus their attention on just one conversation even when surrounded by friends.

"Older adults have trouble ignoring irrelevant noises and concentrating," added Duarte, who oversees Georgia Tech's Memory and Aging Lab. "Associative memory also declines with age. As we get older, it's harder to remember what name went with a face or where a conversation took place."

Researchers believe that this and future studies could potentially help workers in assisted living centers as they plan activities.

"They should be mindful of their surroundings. Maybe employees should turn off music during learning activities or hold them in a quiet room," she concluded. "Similarly, older adults who struggle to concentrate while meeting with co-workers at a coffee shop, for example, should schedule meetings in quieter locations. When people get lost while driving, it's probably best to turn off the radio."

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