The Effect of Concurrent Music on Autobiographical Recall in Dementia Clients

Abstract

Twenty dementia clients were given vigilance and autobiographical recall tasks, both with and without background music in a repeated measures design. The music was either novel or familiar, the pieces being matched on three affective scales. Autobiographical recall was significantly better in music than in quiet, but there was no effect of familiarity. Performance on the vigilance task was subject to both floor and ceiling effects. There was some indication thatmusic was more beneficial for the more severely impaired clients. The results favour an explanation of the facilitatory effect of music in terms of increased arousal or decreased anxiety rather than association. Suggestions for further research and implications of the results for the therapeutic use of music for dementia clients are discussed.