Catchy songs as treatment for dementia?

Songs that get stuck in your head help boost memory and could be used to treat dementia.

New research has found that melodic and repetitive 'earworms' such as Kylie Minogue's 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head' and Queen's 'We Will Rock You' strengthen the memory of where the person was and what they were doing.

The University of California study paired music with film clips and discovered people could recall much more if they heard the music a lot.

Professor Petr Janata says the study suggests that music therapy could be used to help dementia patients.

He said: "We think of earworms as a random nuisance but our results show they help preserve recent experiences in long-term memory." 

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