NEUROSCIENCE

RESEARCH ARTICLE
A. Theofilidis et al. / Neuroscience 448 (2020) 266–271

Gender Differences in Short-term Memory Related to Music Genres

Antonios Theofilidis, a* Maria -Valeria Karakasi, a,b Dimitrios-Phaedon Kevrekidis, b Pavlos Pavlidis, b Maria Sofologi, a
Grigorios Trypsiannis c and John Nimatoudis a
a
3rd University Department of Psychiatry, AHEPA University General Hospital – Department of Mental Health, Aristotle University – Faculty
of Medicine, GR 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
b
Laboratory of Forensic Sciences, Democritus University of Thrace – School of Medicine, GR 68100 Dragana, Alexandroupolis, Greece
c
Laboratory of Medical Statistics, Democritus University of Thrace – School of Medicine, GR 68100 Dragana, Alexandroupolis, Greece

Abstract—The purpose of the present research was to examine whether different music settings could influence
one’s cognitive function – particularly memory. The examined sample consisted of 168 college students with a
male:female ratio of 1:2.2. The participants were asked to complete a short-term memory test regarding word rec-
ollection while exposed to auditory stimuli. They were divided into three groups, each experiencing very different
auditory stimuli (classical music; heavy metal music; no music). The results indicated that gender (as a single
parameter) played a significant role in the recall process, with female subjects achieving significantly higher
scores than males (p-value = 0.006). Music as an external stimulus was also found to affect the recall process sig-
nificantly (0.02 < p < 0.04). Gender did not present any statistically significant association with specific music
genres although, based on the limitations of this study, findings are in need of further exploration. The results
of the present study may direct forthcoming research to address this issue further by examining additional vari-
ables as well. Ó 2020 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Key words: cognition, memory, music genres, gender, word recall, short-memory test.

INTRODUCTION than those with lower dopamine efficacy, who learn to

avoid punishment better (Gold et al., 2013). Furthermore,
How susceptible is our memory to auditory stimuli? Is it music has proven to be highly effective for patients with
possible for dissimilar music genres to alter memory’s neurocognitive disorders, as a part of therapeutic
functionality? Is there a gender-based difference schemes involving multi-domain cognitive stimulation,
regarding recall of information? These are several and especially improving autobiographical and episodic
questions that formed the starting point of this research. memories, psychomotor speed, executive function, and
Throughout recent years, there has been considerable global cognition (Brotons and Koger, 2000; Simmons-
interest in the cognitive process known as memory. Stern et al., 2010; Särkämö et al., 2014; Satoh et al.,
With the increasing number of approaches using music 2015; Fang et al., 2017; Leggieri et al., 2019). Various
as a therapeutic tool for a wide variety of topics, the research findings have also indicated that listening to
importance of accurately assessing how music interacts music could increase global cognition in Alzheimer’s
with memory can no longer be underrated (Whipple, dementia (Bruer et al., 2007; Herholz et al., 2013).
2004; Goodall and Etters, 2005; Keen, 2005; Magee, Indeed, it was pointed out that the minimum duration of
2005; Mrázová and Celec, 2010; Wall and Duffy, 2010). the music therapy effect for Alzheimer’s dementia was
A growing body of literature has examined the effects of three weeks after intervention (Ozdemir and Akdemir,
music and sounds on cognitive performances. Recent 2009). In addition, it was noted that, after a six-week inter-
studies have revealed an association between music vention of listening to their preferred music, patients with
enjoyment and the dopaminergic reward system, as lis- Alzheimer’s disease could significantly improve in the
tening to pleasurable music appears to enhance dopa- cognitive domains of memory and orientation, while
mine release in the ventral striatum (Nadler et al., 2010; improvements could also be observed in regard to their
Gold et al., 2013). Striatal dopamine also affects rein- affect (depression and anxiety) (Gómez Gallego and
forcement learning, in a way that people with higher dopa- Gómez Garcı́a, 2017). Satoh et al. (2015) indicated that
mine efficacy tend to learn to approach rewards better, listening to music and singing could improve psychomotor
speed in patients with Alzheimer’s disease after a six-
*Corresponding author. Tel: +30-6978802810; fax: +30-25513 month intervention. Likewise, listening to music during
53824.
E-mail address: ppavlidi@webmail.duth.gr (A. Theofilidis).
the early post-stroke stage has also proven to enhance

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2020.08.035
0306-4522/Ó 2020 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

266
 A. Theofilidis et al. / Neuroscience 448 (2020) 266–271 267

cognitive recovery and prevent pessimistic attitudes variable was the gender with two levels (male/female).
(Särkämö and Soto, 2012). The results of the short-term memory examination that
Although there is a vast amount of literature was administered comprised the dependent variable of
supporting the belief that music on the whole – and this study. Taking this under consideration, we
especially the listener’s favorite music – could function concluded that the most appropriate method was a
as an enhancer of memory (Wallace, 1994; Thompson Two-way ANOVA, given that we wanted not only to
et al., 2001; Hallam et al., 2002; Ferreri et al., 2013), a assess the main effect of each independent variable,
previous study disclosed that reading comprehension but also to discover whether there is any interaction
was impaired when music with lyrics was played (Martin among the two.
et al., 1988). Marsh et al. (2009) supported the latter
claim, but only in circumstances in which the task involved Participants
semantic processing, while the irrelevant sound (music)
also contained semantic information (e.g., music with A total of 168 (N = 168) healthy individuals were
lyrics in the listener’s language) compared to when it did recruited for this survey without any cognitive
not (e.g. music without lyrics, reversed speech and quiet). impairment. The male population consisted of 52
Fassbender et al. (2012) also asserted that music subjects of our sample, whereas the female population
throughout a study period affected memory in a negative numbered 116 (male:female ratio was 1:2.23). They
manner, but augmented mood and sports performance. were all second-year psychology students in
Furthermore, classical music has been discovered to Metropolitan College in Thessaloniki or Athens. This
have a positive impact on cognitive functions, and sample selection was made so that age and education
especially episodic memory (Ferreri et al., 2015). In par- diversity would be minimized (as these are both
ticular, the effect of Vivaldi’s ‘‘Four Seasons” on older parameters that could affect performance).
adults’ working performance has been shown to be quite
strong (Mammarella et al., 2007; Fang et al., 2017). Addi- Materials
tionally, IQ has also been found to be positively affected A short-term memory test was provided; it included 30
by music with the most famous example of this phe- random words, each demonstrated for a short period of
nomenon called the ‘‘Mozart effect,” in which spatial IQ time (one second/word), and accompanied by three very
was observed to increase after listening to a passage of dissimilar genres of music (classical music/metal music/
Mozart’s Sonata for ten minutes, compared to a relaxation no sound). After the 30 s had passed, the participants
tape or sitting in silence (Rauscher et al., 1993; Jaušovec were required to note down as many words as they
et al., 2006). Other studies have supported the belief that could recall in a period of one minute. Once the
this phenomenon is caused by arousal and increase in procedure was completed, we proceeded with the
mood due to listening to one’s favorite music rather than analysis of our data. The software package used to
being a phenomenon solely associated with a specific analyze the data was the Statistical Package for the
musical genre (Schellenberg, 2004; Schellenberg and Social Sciences (SPSS), version 19.0 (IBM Corp, 2011).
Hallam, 2005; Perham and Withey, 2012). A noteworthy
number of previous studies has also discovered that
Procedure
memory cannot only be affected by auditory stimuli, but
also by odor, as well as strong associations between The present experimental research was conducted in
emotion and memory (Schab, 1990; Zald and Pardo, Metropolitan College, in both Athens and Thessaloniki
1997; Chu and Downes, 2000; Maratos et al., 2001; college foundations courses amongst second-year
Dolan, 2002; Gottfried et al., 2004; Willander and students of psychology. All students were separated
Larsson, 2006; Yeshurun and Sobel, 2010; Herz, 2016). arbitrarily into three groups – by dividing (separately)
The present study aimed at examining whether male and female subjects by three, and they were
different musical genres have an impact on memory of asked to look at 30 words, which were demonstrated to
female and male population, but gender differences them consecutively. Two groups were assigned a
concerning memory remain a field of research in need musical genre (classical or heavy metal) and the third
of much further attention (Seinstra et al., 2015). (comparison) group had no music played during the
assessment. Every word was screened for one second,
and after the demonstration of the last word participants
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES were required to write down as many of them as they
Design could recall in the period of one minute.

The present experimental study consisted of quantitative

Ethics
data examining the effect of different auditory stimuli on
memory capacity, that is, the potential impact of the This manuscript is in accordance with the corresponding
existence or absence of music as an external stimulus, ethical standards of the study country. It is a non-
as well as a potential difference depending on the type invasive study. All participants have given signed
of music. The role of the gender was also examined in consent to participate.
regard to memory capacity. The independent variables Specifically, in order to ensure that the requirements
were three different musical genres with three levels of ethics and ethical issues were fulfilled, the
(classical music/metal music/no sound), and the other participants were informed about the procedure in
268 A. Theofilidis et al. / Neuroscience 448 (2020) 266–271

advance. They were given information relating to the no sound (t(103) = 2.29, p = .024) as well as the
study and its purpose before participating. They also separately compared groups: heavy metal and no sound
had the right to ask questions, express any kind of (t(111) = 2.08, p = .040) presented statistically
discomfort, and discontinue participation at any time significant differences in regard to the average number
during the test. They were also updated regarding the of words recalled. The comparison of the music genre
results of the study. The individuals who participated in groups: heavy metal and classical demonstrated no
the assessment kept their anonymity during the statistically significant differences (t(116) = 0.05,
procedure. The participation of the sample was p = .962). Furthermore, gender presented statistically
voluntary, and the researchers’ identity information was significant main effect (F1, 162 = 6.917, p = .009), and
given in order for the members to be able to contact the t-test (t(166) = 2.80, p = .006) indicated that the
them at any given time (APA, 2017, BPS, 2018). female population (M = 10.07, SD = 2.37) was able to
There are no potential conflicts of interest regarding recall a larger number of words in comparison to the
this study. This work has not been funded by any words that were recalled by the male population
corporation. (M = 8.92, SD = 2.68) with no association with the
music genre that they were exposed to (Fig. 1).
Statistical analysis As far as the interaction of the independent variables
was concerned, no statistically significant differences
Statistical analysis of the data was performed by using the were observed (F2, 162 = 0.714, p = .491). As it is
Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), easily discernible from Table 1, females who were
version 19.0 (IBM). The normality of the number of exposed to classical music (M = 9.74, SD = 2.46)
words that were recalled in a short-memory test was presented the ability to recall a larger number of words
tested with the Kolmogorov–Smirnov Test, while the than males who were also exposed to the same genre
homogeneity of variance was evaluated using Levene’s did (M = 8.68, SD = 1.95). The number of words that
Test. All quantitative variables were expressed as mean were recalled was greater in females (M = 10.57,
value (M) and standard deviation (SD). Two-way SD = 1.8) when they were not exposed to any genre of
analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed, with music, while similarly males presented better results
music (classical/metal/no sound) and gender (male/ with no musical stimulus (M = 10.06, SD = 2.37),
female) as independent variables on the number of compared to other musical genres. Nonetheless, the
words that were recalled in a short-memory test. number of words that males recalled was still less than
Student’s t-test was used to determine differences in the that of females.
number of words that were recalled in a short-memory
test between two groups of students. All tests were
two-tailed, and statistical significance was considered DISCUSSION
for p-values less than 0.05.
Overall, the findings of the present study supported the
RESULTS idea that the female population was better at recalling
the words during the assessment, irrespective of the
The diagnostic tests that were conducted among the auditory stimuli. Thus far, no statistically significant
music genres (classical/metal/no sound) concerning the association was detected between the gender and the
number of the words that the participants recalled different genres of music (Jäncke, 2018). In current litera-
(Table 1), demonstrated that the requirements of ture, there has been a growing interest in examining
normality (Kolmogorov–Smirnov Test, all p > .05), and
homogeneity of variance (Levene’s Test, p > .05) were
satisfied between the groups. In two-way ANOVA,
music was found to have a statistically significant main
effect (F2, 162 = 3.29, p = .040) in the recalling of
words. Post-hoc analysis using individual t-tests
demonstrated that the compared groups: classical and

Table 1. The number of words that were recalled in a short-term

memory test in relation to sound and gender, expressed as mean value
(standard deviation)

Total Males Females

Sound
Classical 9.43 (2.36) 8.68 (1.95) 9.74 (2.46)
Metal 9.41 (2.93) 8.28 (3.18) 9.97 (2.66)
No sound 10.42 (1.98) 10.06 (2.37) 10.57 (1.80)

Total 9.72 (2.52) 8.92 (2.68) 10.07 (2.37)

Statistical significance obtained from Two-way ANOVA: p = .040 for sound main-
effect, p = .009 for gender main-effect, p = .491 for sound  gender interaction Fig. 1. Box-and-whiskers plot depicting words recalled in the short-
effect, on the number of words that were recalled in a short-term memory test. term memory test for total, female and male subjects.
 A. Theofilidis et al. / Neuroscience 448 (2020) 266–271 269

gender differences as far as cognitive processes are con- Nehlig, 2010) and/or nicotine (Ernst et al., 2001), and
cerned (Zosuls et al., 2011). Specifically, the cognitive stress (Lupien et al., 2009) offer potential insights regard-
strategies each gender utilizes in order to process infor- ing gender differences and memory. Results so far have
mation appears to be different: women use more detailed been very promising, and forthcoming studies examining
elaboration of information content, whereas men are likely more genres of music are promising areas of further
driven by schemas or overall information themes (Guillem insights. Academic performance and different cultural
and Mograss, 2005). Likewise, the work of Herlitz et al. backgrounds may also constitute aspects that could be
(1997) has shown that women demonstrated a higher examined in the near future. Apart from gender differ-
level of performance on episodic memory tasks than ences on the subject of memory, perception, attention
men did. Furthermore, the results of preceding studies and decision-making could also be examined. In conclu-
regarding cognitive functioning are consistent with the sion, we are confident that our results can direct future
findings of the present study with respect to the higher studies that explore gender differences in relation to cog-
performance of females in comparison to males as far nitive abilities.
as language use and memory tests are concerned
(Kaushanskaya et al., 2011; Loprinzi and Frith, 2018). In ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
addition, males have been found to outperform females
on tests of visuospatial ability and mathematical reason- I would like to express my deep gratitude to the
ing (Iachini et al., 2005; Downing et al., 2008). However, Cambridge Academic Editors Ms Kathleen Malone Hart
scientific research continues on whether differential pat- (M.A., Anglo-Irish literature, University College, Dublin,
terns are activated in the brain of males and females while Ireland, 1974) and Mr Robert Chatel (A.M., philosophy,
performing a variety of cognitive tasks (Bell et al., 2006; University of Chicago, 1972), who helped us edit our
Jäncke, 2018). In reference to music, it has been verified manuscript with their collaboration and combined
that classical music has the ability to increase the speed experience. I would also like to extend my thanks to the
of spatial processing and the accuracy of linguistic pro- anonymous reviewers who have greatly contributed to
cessing in both genders (Angel et al., 2010). Unfortu- our improvement as authors with their helpful and
nately, this claim does not seem to agree with our constructive comments. This work has not been funded
findings, which demonstrated that subjects had better by any corporation.
performance when exposed to no sound compared to lis-
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(Received 22 January 2020, Accepted 27 August 2020)

(Available online 4 September 2020)