Verbal working memory in advanced musicians

This study investigated if enhanced verbal memory among advanced musicians is a result of music training or other factors, for example their general education. Twenty-three advanced musicians and 45 undergraduate controls were compared on various musical abilities and verbal memory. Results showed that the musicians performed significantly better than the controls in melodic organisation, temporal perception, incidental music memory, and verbal memory, even after controlling the effect of education. However, there were no significant correlations between various musical abilities and verbal memory. The findings seem to suggest that some forms of higher-order cognitive control processes may operate in both memory and music domains in a separate manner