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Effect of Background Music on Attentional Control in Older and Young Adults.

  • Cloutier A International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (BRAMS), Center for Research on Brain, Language and Music (CRBLM) and Laboratory for Music, Emotions and Cognition Research (MUSEC), Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada.
  • Fernandez NB Laboratory of Behavioral Neurology and Imaging of Cognition (LabNIC) and Swiss Center for Affective Sciences (CISA), Department of Neuroscience, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
  • Houde-Archambault C International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (BRAMS), Center for Research on Brain, Language and Music (CRBLM) and Laboratory for Music, Emotions and Cognition Research (MUSEC), Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada.
  • Gosselin N International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (BRAMS), Center for Research on Brain, Language and Music (CRBLM) and Laboratory for Music, Emotions and Cognition Research (MUSEC), Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada.
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  • 2020-11-16
Published in:
  • Frontiers in psychology. - 2020
arousal
attentional control
background music
executive functions
flanker task
healthy aging
musical emotions
neuropsychology
English Healthy aging may be accompanied by cognitive decline that includes diminished attentional control, an executive function that allows us to focus our attention while inhibiting distractors. Previous studies have demonstrated that background music can enhance some executive functions in both young and older adults. According to the Arousal-Mood Theory, the beneficial influence of background music on cognitive performance would be related to its ability to increase the arousal level of the listeners and to improve their mood. Consequently, stimulating and pleasant music might enhance attentional control. Therefore, the aims of this study were (1) to determine if the influence of background music, and more specifically its arousal level, might improve attentional control in older adults and (2) whether this effect is similar across older and young adults. Older and young adults performed a visuo-spatial flanker task during three auditory conditions: stimulating music, relaxing music, and silence. Participants had to indicate as fast and as accurately as possible the direction of a central arrow, which was flanked by congruent or incongruent arrows. As expected, reaction times were slower for the incongruent compared to congruent trials. Interestingly, this difference was significantly greater under the relaxing music condition compared to other auditory conditions. This effect was the same across both age groups. In conclusion, relaxing music seems to interfere with visuo-spatial attentional control compared to stimulating music and silence, regardless of age.
Language
  • English
Open access status
gold
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Persistent URL
https://folia.unifr.ch/global/documents/34394
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