Music and Memory
To what extent is the music memory independent of memory systems for other, non-musical content? How does music training affect memory and can help music retrieve other content from memory? Questions about the interplay of music and memory are explored in this research area.
You are here:
Influence of Musical Expertise on Musical and Non-musical Memory
Music memory includes the ability to store and remember musical information such as melodies or rhythms. Results from previous studies show that musical memory is at least partially based on other neural networks than other memory systems and thus can be independent of other memory functions. People with memory difficulties due to illness or injury to the brain may retain the ability to relearn or remember musical content.
However, it is unclear what role active music playing plays in the development and preservation of memory functions and in particular on musical memory. In the framework of this project it will therefore be investigated to what extent many years of musical training have an effect on the learning and linking of musical and non-musical information. For this we would like to examine professional musicians with a memory experiment and compare them with the performance of non-musicians.
Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. med Alexander Schmidt, Prof. Dr. med Christoph Ploner (Klinik für Neurologie), Prof. Dr. med Carsten Finke (Klinik für Neurologie, Berlin School of Mind and Brain)
Projektdurchführung: Martina Hoffmann, M. Sc.