Music-Evoked Autobiographical Memories are Associated with Negative Affect in Younger and Older Adults

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND

Music evokes strong and persistent emotional responses. However, the mechanisms underlying the emotional effects of music, particularly in older adults, are largely unknown. One purported mechanism by which music evokes emotions is through memory – that is, music evokes personal, autobiographical memories that then lead to emotional responses.

METHOD

Here, we investigated whether memory-evoking music induces stronger and longer-lasting emotional responses than non-memory-evoking music, and whether these emotional responses differ between younger and older adults. Older (N = 30) and younger adults (N =30) listened to two blocks of self-selected music (one block of memory-evoking music and one block of familiar but non-memory-evoking music). Participants reported their emotions prior to and at three timepoints post-listening.

RESULTS

Older adults reported higher levels of positive affect than younger adults. For both groups, positive affect increased after listening to both memory-evoking and non-memory-evoking music. However, negative affect only increased after listening to memory-evoking music.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that both memory-evoking and non-memory-evoking music generate strong emotions in younger and older adults, but music that conjures personal memories is more likely to elicit mixed emotions. Our results have important clinical implications when designing music-based interventions for mood and affect, particularly in older adult populations.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Helen Werner and Emily Pearson for their assistance with data collection.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/0361073X.2024.2302785

Additional information

Funding

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R15AG075609.