When Melodies Cue Memories: Electrophysiological Correlates of Autobiographically Salient Music Listening in Older Adults

Autobiographical memory is essential for older adults, providing a foundation for self-identity. Healthy aging is accompanied by changes in memory retrieval. However, musical memory remains relatively preserved, suggesting it may serve as an effective cue for autobiographical memory recall. Autobiographically salient (ABS) music (i.e., deeply encoded songs associated to important people, places, and events) is posited to engage distinct memory processes than familiar (FAM) music (i.e., songs that are recognized but lack personal significance). We tested this in 36 older adults (70.6 ± 6.6 years, 20 females) who listened to music of varying degrees of personal significance, including ABS, FAM, and unfamiliar (UFAM) music. In Experiment 1, participants pressed a button as quickly as possible when they recognized the excerpt as ABS, FAM, or UFAM. In Experiment 2, we measured event-related potentials and time-frequency responses while participants listened to the same stimuli and rated familiarity and memory at the end of each excerpt. Participants had the fastest reaction times for ABS, followed by FAM, then UFAM music. We observed a sustained evoked response from 2238 to 5000 ms post-stimulus onset that was largest in amplitude for ABS music, compared to FAM and UFAM music, over right frontal-central regions. We also observed less beta power suppression for ABS than FAM music between 1300 and 5000 ms over bilateral frontal-central-parietal areas. Our behavioral and neurophysiological findings show that ABS music is associated with faster and stronger memory-related activity distinct from FAM music.