This is just a small sample of the supporting scientific literature for music as a facilitator of memory and numerous other benefits.
July 2013
Publisher: Memory & Cognition
DOI: 10.3758/s13421-013-0342-5
Project: Exploring how songs and singing can support language learning
Authors: Karen Ludke, Fernanda Ferreira, Katie Overy
Knott, D., Thaut, M. H., (2018). Musical Mnemonics Enhance Verbal Memory in Typically Developing Children. Frontiers in Education. Volume 3. DOI:10.3389/feduc.2018.00031, ISSN: 2504-284X
Matthew M. Cirigliano (2013) Musical mnemonics in health science: A first look. Medical Teacher, 35:3, e1020-e1026, DOI: 10.3109/0142159X.2012.733042
David Knott, MM, MT-BC, Musical Mnemonics Training: Proposed Mechanisms and Case Example with Acquired Brain Injury, Music Therapy Perspectives, Volume 35, Issue 1, 1 April 2017, Pages 23–29, https://doi.org/10.1093/mtp/miv016
Intensely pleasurable responses to music correlate with activity in brain regions implicated in reward and emotion
J. Blood, Robert J. Zatorre
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Sep 2001, 98 (20) 11818-11823; DOI:10.1073/pnas.191355898
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4. Bengtsson SL, Ullen F (2006) Dissociation between melodic and rhythmic processing during piano performance from musical scores. NeuroImage 30:272–284.
5. Besson, M., Schön, D., Moreno, S., Santos, A., & Magne, C. (2007). Influence of musical expertise and musical training on pitch processing in music and language. Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, 25, 399–410.
6. Bever, T. G., & Chiarello, R. J. (1974, August 9). Cerebral dominance in musicians and nonmusicians. Science, 185, 537–539.
7. Blood AJ, Zatorre RJ: Intensely pleasurable responses to music correlate with activity in brain regions implicated in reward and emotion. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2001, 98: 11818-11823. 10.1073/pnas.191355898.
8. Calvert, S. L., & Tart, M. (1993). Song versus verbal forms for very-long-term, long-term, and short-term verbatim recall. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 14, 245–260.
9. Chan AS, Ho YC, Cheung MC: Music training improves verbal memory. Nature. 1998, 396: 128-10.1038/24075.
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11. Costa-Giomi E (2004) Effects of three years of piano instruction on children’s academic achievement, school performance and self-esteem. Psychol Music 32:139 –152.
12. Davidson, R. J., & Schwartz, G. E. (1977). The influence of musical training on patterns of EEG asymmetry during musical and non-musical self-generation tasks. Psychophysiology, 14, 58–63.
13. Dowling, W. J., Tillmann, B., & Ayers, D. F. (2002). Memory and the experience of hearing music. Music Perception, 19, 249–276.
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19. Gardiner, M. F., Fox, A., Knowles, F., & Jeffrey, D. (1996). Learning improved by arts training. Nature, 381, 284.
20. Gfeller, K. (1983). Musical mnemonics as an aid to retention with normal and learning disabled students. Journal of Music Therapy, 20, 179–189.
21. Gilleece, L. F. (2006). An empirical investigation of the association between musical aptitude and foreign language aptitude. Doctoral dissertation, University of Dublin, Trinity College, Ireland.
22. Gordon, R. L., Schön, D., Magne, C., Astésano, C., & Besson, M. (2010). Words and melody are intertwined in perception of sung words: EEG and behavioral evidence. PLoS One, 5, e9889.
23. Hirata, Y., Kuriki, S., & Pantev, C. (1999). Musicians with abso- lute pitch show distinct neural activities in the auditory cortex. NeuroReport, 10, 999–1002.
24. Hirshkowitz, M., Earle, J., & Paley, B. (1978). EEG alpha asym- metry in musicians and non-musicians: A study of hemispheric specialization. Neuropsychologia, 16, 125–128.
25. Ho YC, Cheung MC, Chan AS: Music training improves verbal but not visual memory: cross-sectional and longitudinal explorations in children. Neuropsychology. 2003, 17: 439-450. 10.1037/0894-4105.17.3.439.
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28. Janata P, Tomic ST, Rakowski SK: Characterization of music-evoked autobiographical memories. Memory. 2007, 15: 845-860. 10.1080/09658210701734593.
29. Johnson, J. S., & Newport, E. L., (1989). Critical period effects in second language learning: The influence of maturational state on the acquisition of English as a second language. Cognitive Psychology, 21, 60–99.
30. Karen M. Ludke & Fernanda Ferreira & Katie Overy. (2013). Singing can facilitate foreign language learning. Psychonomic Society, Inc.
31. Kilgour, A. R., Jakobson, L. S., & Cuddy, L. L. (2000). Music training and rate of presentation as mediator of text and song recall. Memory & Cognition, 28, 700–710.
32. Koelsch S, Kasper E, Sammler D, Schulze K, Gunter T, Friederici AD: Music, language and meaning: brain signatures of semantic processing. Nat Neurosci. 2004, 7: 302-307. 10.1038/nn1197.
33. Kopiez R, Weihs C, Ligges U, Lee J (2006) Classification of high and low achievers in a music sight-reading task. Psychol Music 36:5–26.
34. Krinsky, R., &Nelson, T. O. (1985). The feeling of knowing for different types of retrieval failure.Acta Psychologica,58, 141–158.
35. Pantev, C., Oostenveld, R., Engelien, A., Ross, B., Roberts, L. E., & Hoke, M. (1998). Increased auditory cortical representation in musicians. Nature, 392, 811–814.
36. Parsons LM (2001) Exploring the functional neuroanatomy of music per- formance, perception and comprehension. In: The biological foundations of music (Zatorre R, Peretz I, eds), pp 211–231. New York: New York Academy of Sciences.
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42. Rauscher, F. H., Shaw, G. L., Levine, L. J., Wright, E. L., Dennis, W. R., & Newcomb, R. L. (1997). Music training causes long- term enhancement of preschool children’s spatial-temporal rea- soning. Neurological Research, 19, 2–8.
43. Schellenberg EG (2004) Music lessons enhance IQ.Psychol Sci15:511–514.
44. Schellenberg EG (2005) Music and cognitive abilities. Curr Directions Psychol Sci 14:317–320.
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47. Schlaug G, Jancke L, Huang Y, Staiger JF, Steinmetz H (1995) Increased corpus callosum size in musicians. Neuropsychologia 33:1047–1055. Schlaug G, Norton A, Overy K, Winner E (2005) Effects of music training on the child’s brain and cognitive development. Ann NY Acad Sci 1060:219 –230.
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Memory Tests:
1. Benedict, R. H. B. (1997). Brief Visuospatial Memory Test— Revised. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
2. Delis, D. C., Kramer, J. H., Kaplan, E., & Ober, B. A. (1987). California Verbal Learning Test. New York: Psychological Corporation.
3. Sattler, J. M. (1992). Assessment of children—Revised and up- dated third edition. San Diego, CA: Author.
4. Sivan, A. B. Benton Visual Retention Test: Manual 5th edn (Psychol. Corp., San Antonio, 1992).
5. Warrington, E. K. Recognition Memory Test: Manual (NFER- Nelson, Windsor, 1984).