The impacts of music on memory

By Leisa Tsutsumi

Cognitive disorders such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease affect millions of people worldwide. Even though there is currently no cure for dementia, recent studies have shown that engaging with music can help treat and even prevent its onset. As the global population ages, there is a growing need to find ways to maintain people’s quality of life and slow cognitive decline. This paper answers the research question: “How can music affect dementia and other mental disorders relating to memory?” using neuroscience studies, medical articles, and psychological experiments.

The Relationship Between Emotion and Memory
Holly Ober, a researcher at the University of Oregon, argues in her article Listen to the Music: How — and When — Emotional Responses to Music Influence Memory that music can improve memory when the right emotional response comes with it. She backs this up using a UCLA neuroscience study that looked at the connection between memory and how emotionally participants responded to music.
Neuroscientist and psychology researcher Lutz Jäncke makes a similar point. In his 2008 article Music, Memory and Emotion, Jäncke argues that music brings back memories because it triggers strong emotions. He supports this by reviewing several neuroscience studies. Both of these sources point to the same idea: when music makes us feel something, it also helps us remember.

How Music Helps Patients with Dementia
Music & Memory is a nonprofit organization focused on improving care for people with cognitive problems. Using research from the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis and the University of Utah Health, they argue that music can help dementia patients reconnect with memories and emotions that seem lost. This makes sense given that musical memories tend to be stored in parts of the brain that dementia affects less, making them more likely to survive as the disease progresses.
A 2022 report from Northwestern Medicine by Bonakdarpour also found that using music with dementia patients had real, measurable benefits. Musical intervention reduced agitation and anxiety in both the patient and their caregiver, and communication between them got better — both through talking and through things like eye contact. Meanwhile, the group that did not use music actually got worse in terms of communication. This shows that music doesn’t just help the patient — it can improve the whole caregiving relationship.

Preventing Dementia Through Music
Music may also help prevent dementia from developing in the first place. Balbag, Pedersen, and Gatz (2014) looked at this in a study called Playing a Musical Instrument as a Protective Factor against Dementia and Cognitive Impairment. Using data from a large twin study, they found that people who played a musical instrument from a young age had much lower rates of cognitive decline later in life. Playing an instrument seems to strengthen the parts of the brain involved in thinking and language.
Even just listening to music regularly can make a difference. The Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation (2026) reported that older adults who listened to music consistently reduced their risk of developing dementia by nearly 40 percent. They also did better on cognitive and language tests and showed less agitation than those who did not listen to music. These results are pretty striking and suggest that something as simple as putting on music every day could have real long-term benefits.

Conclusion
Music is more than just something people enjoy — it can actually work as a kind of medicine for the aging brain. It is free, easy to access, and helpful not just for patients but for caregivers too. Of course, how well it works might depend on the person’s history with certain songs or styles of music, and more research is needed to figure out how to use it most effectively. But the evidence is clear that music can help slow dementia and improve quality of life. Instead of just waiting for the brain to decline, why not give it something to work with every day?