Mood of Music Influencing Episodic Memory and Habitual Sleep Behaviors
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Dullabh, Bianca
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Abstract
Music is a common form of therapy for individuals experiencing daily stressors. Previous studies have explored the benefits of listening to music for patients with pre-existing psychological and sleep-related issues and have found that music can be used for relaxation, can significantly reduce sleep latency and improves sleep quality, and can improve overall sleep health. Recent studies have only touched upon testing how music can influence cognition, however, there is no clear consensus as to whether music specifically may improve memory. There is still a gap in knowledge about the connections between the emotional influences that music may have on influencing memory and sleep quality together. This study aims to observe whether younger adults with no history of sleep issues experience enhanced memory abilities and overall sleep quality when listening to music intended to elicit a positive or negative mood during learning and before sleep. Mood-related music is used in this study in hopes of finding whether both emotion and music combined play a role in influencing cognition and sleep habits. Participants will be assigned a set of positively valenced music, negatively valenced music, or a combination of both to listen to during learning and before sleeping. They will be instructed to keep track of their sleep habits in a daily sleep log and wear an accelerometer to measure objective sleep. Participants’ memories are tested both before and after the one-week period in order to measure potential effects that the mood-related music may have on memory performance. In analyzing the effects of the mood of music on memory performance, sleep habits, and memory and sleep together, there was no statistical significance found between experimental groups and participants receiving no music during test and before sleep. Studying how music may potentially impact cognitive performance and sleeping habits is beneficial by providing an accessible alternative to individuals who are seeking to enhance their cognitive abilities as well as improve their sleep.
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2026-04-13
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Text
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Undergraduate Research Option Thesis