Solitary Silence & Social Sounds: Using music to alleviate feelings of loneliness in older adults

Loneliness detrimentally affects well-being and cognitive health, especially in older adults. The COVID-19 pandemic saw a marked increase in music usage for self-regulation, often with the explicit purpose of ‘keeping company’. Pilot data supports that this is not simply a figure of speech, but constitutes an empirical effect on thought, observable in the content of mental imagery during music listening. In the present project, we combine quantitative and qualitative methodologies to test personalised use of music as a cost-effective on-demand tool to alleviate feelings of loneliness in old age. Research goals:
a) Test whether music induces thoughts of social interactions in younger (supported by pilot data) as well as older adults.
b) Test whether music-induced thoughts of social interactions can alleviate feelings of loneliness in older adults.
Scientific Significance & Industry Usability:
Mental imagery is pivotal for self-regulation and therapies for mental health conditions, such as anxiety disorders and phobias. Understanding non-invasive means of influencing mental imagery allows insights into a key component of human cognition with potential to support evidence based cognitive therapies and develop cost-effective means to increase well-being in old age that could complement existing high-cost, high-effort interventions.