Music Evoked Autobiographical Memory After Severe Acquired Brain Injury: Preliminary Findings from a Case Series

Journal

Neuropsychological Rehabilitation

Year

2014

Abstract

Music evoked autobiographical memories (MEAMs) have been characterised in the healthy population, but not, to date, in patients with acquired brain injury (ABI). Our aim was to investigate music compared with verbal evoked autobiographical memories. Five patients with severe ABI and matched controls completed the experimental music (MEAM) task (a written questionnaire) while listening to 50 'Number 1 Songs of the Year' (from 1960 to 2010). Patients also completed the Autobiographical Memory Interview (AMI) and a standard neuropsychological assessment. With the exception of Case 5, who reported no MEAMs and no autobiographical incidents on the AMI and who also had impaired pitch perception, the range of frequency and type of MEAMs in patients was broadly in keeping with their matched controls. The relative preservation of MEAMs in four cases was particularly noteworthy given their impaired verbal and/or visual anterograde memory, and in three cases, autobiographical memory impairment. The majority of MEAMs in both cases and matched controls were of a person/people or a period of life. In three patients music was more efficient at evoking autobiographical memories than the AMI verbal prompts. This is the first study of MEAMs after ABI. The findings suggest that music is an effective stimulus for eliciting autobiographical memories, and may be beneficial in the rehabilitation of autobiographical amnesia, but only in patients without a fundamental deficit in autobiographical recall memory and intact pitch perception. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Music and Health Institute Terms

Cognitive Abilities; Memory; Music Listening; Receptive Music Methods; Subjective Measures; Traumatic Brain Injury

Indexed Terms

Memory, Episodic; Autobiographical Memory; Mental Recall; Brain Injuries; Traumatic Brain Injury; neuropsychology; evoked autobiographical memory; experimental music; severe acquired brain injury

Study Type

Case Study; Qualitative Methods

Document Type

Article

More Info

Share

COinS