Learning sung lyrics aids retention in normal ageing and Alzheimer's disease
Catégorie
Journal Article
Auteurs
Moussard, A., Bigand, E., Belleville, S., Peretz, I.
Année
2014
Titre
Learning sung lyrics aids retention in normal ageing and Alzheimer's disease
Journal / Livre / Conférence
Neuropsychological Rehabilitation
Résumé
Previous studies have suggested that presenting to-be-memorised lyrics in a singing mode, instead of a speaking mode, may facilitate learning and retention in normal adults. In this study, seven healthy older adults and eight participants with mild Alzheimer's disease (AD) learned and memorised lyrics that were either sung or spoken. We measured the percentage of words recalled from these lyrics immediately and after 10 minutes. Moreover, in AD participants, we tested the effect of successive learning episodes for one spoken and one sung excerpt, as well as long-term retention after a four week delay. Sung conditions did not influence lyrics recall in immediate recall but increased delayed recall for both groups. In AD, learning slopes for sung and spoken lyrics did not show a significant difference across successive learning episodes. However, sung lyrics showed a slight advantage over spoken ones after a four week delay. These results suggest that singing may increase the load of initial learning but improve long-term retention of newly acquired verbal information. We further propose some recommendations on how to maximise these effects and make them relevant for therapeutic applications.
Issue
6
Volume
24
Pages
894-917