Frontiers in Human Neuroscience (Jun 2014)
musical mnemonics aid verbal memory and induce learning related brain plasticity in multiple sclerosis
Abstract
Recent research in music and brain function has suggested that the temporal pattern structure in music andrhythm can enhance cognitive functions. To further elucidate this question specifically for memory weinvestigated if a musical template can enhance verbal learning in patients with multiple sclerosis and ifmusic assisted learning will also influence short-term, system-level brain plasticity. We measuredsystems-level brain activity with oscillatory network synchronization during music assisted learning.Specifically, we measured the spectral power of 128-channel electroencephalogram (EEG) in alpha andbeta frequency bands in 54 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). The study sample was randomlydivided into 2 groups, either hearing a spoken or musical (sung) presentation of Rey’s Auditory VerbalLearning Test (RAVLT). We defined the learning-related synchronization (LRS) as the percent changein EEG spectral power from the first time the word was presented to the average of the subsequent wordencoding trials. LRS differed significantly between the music and spoken conditions in low alpha andupper beta bands. Patients in the music condition showed overall better word memory and better wordorder memory and stronger bilateral frontal alpha LRS than patients in the spoken condition. Theevidence suggests that a musical mnemonic recruits stronger oscillatory network synchronization inprefrontal areas in MS patients during word learning. It is suggested that the temporal structure implicitin musical stimuli enhances ‘deep encoding’ during verbal learning and sharpens the timing of neuraldynamics in brain networks degraded by demyelination in MS
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