The impact of depression on musical ability

While there is sustained effort to refine the models and to further decrypt the neuronal underpinnings of cerebral music perception, empirical investigations on the associations of music perception with diagnoses others than focal brain damage need to be amplified.

In the present study, a validated and standardized clinical test of musical ability was applied to a sample of severely depressed patients. Basic musical capacities of rhythm, melody and pitch perception, recognition of emotions, and musical memory were evaluated and compared to matched healthy controls and reassessed in a follow-up examination after clinical remission.

We enroled 21 in-patients with major depression according to ICD-10 (F32 and F33). The score in the test of musical ability (maximum score 70) was 52.3±7.8 for the patient group and 57.8±4.3 for the control group (p=0.010). In particular, melody comparison, rhythm perception, and emotional categorising of music were impaired in patients. In the longitudinal study, patients improved from 53.6±7.8 to 56.2±6.7 (p=0.038); this improvement could be related to clinical improvement on the Hamilton Depression Scale.

The sample size is small, in particular in the follow-up study.

The results clearly revealed a significant reduction of musical ability in patients with depression. A part of the patients could even be diagnosed with a clinically relevant amusia. Along with significant decrease of depressive symptoms, the patients significantly improved with respect to musical ability. These findings suggest a systematic impact of depression on musical ability, they are of importance for the application of music therapy in depressive patients and for the function of music to improve their quality of life.