Exploring the Cognitive Power of Music in Aging Populations
By Elizabeth Drolle
Operations and Relations Manager, Network for Aging Research
“Music can tap into some of our happiest memories”
Khalil Husein, a Master’s student at the University of ݮƵ, brings a rich blend of scientific inquiry and musical passion to his aging research. With a BSc from McMaster University in the Integrated Science program, Khalil’s path to aging research was sparked during his undergraduate years. While volunteering with Compassion Through Music - an initiative that brings live, personalized, often one-to-one musical experiences to older adult communities - he witnessed firsthand how powerful music can be in uplifting older adults and enhancing their well-being. These early experiences planted the seed for his current research focus: understanding how music evokes memory, particularly in aging populations.
“Music has always been a fundamental part of my life,” says Khalil. “From a young age, I was involved in piano and school music programs, and I became increasingly aware of how music can tap into some of our happiest memories and how this experience of remembering can bring joy into our everyday lives.”
This passion led Khalil to pursue research on the cognitive mechanisms behind music and memory. His undergraduate Honours thesis examined whether universal biological processes underlying how we hear and sing may have shaped musical systems across global cultures. Now, under the supervision of Dr. Myra Fernandes, his Master’s work investigates how music facilitates the recall of autobiographical memories across the lifespan—with a specific interest in how these processes differ between younger and older adults.
Through this research, Khalil is contributing to our understanding of episodic memory and its evolution with age. Using behavioral methods, participants are presented with short clips of popular songs - modified to include or exclude lyrics and instrumentals—and asked to describe any memories the music evokes. They then rate their emotional and cognitive responses to the memory, including how vividly they re-lived the experience. In collaboration with Dr. Marek Stastna from the Department of Applied Mathematics, Khalil is also exploring the use of natural language processing (NLP) to analyze emotional sentiment in participants’ memory descriptions—paving the way for more scalable and objective analysis in large studies.
“Older adults were found to recall even more memories in response to music than younger adults. These memories also tend to be rated as feeling positive,” Khalil explains. “We’ve also found that lyrics, in particular, are especially helpful for memory recall in older adults.”
These insights have promising implications for therapeutic applications. Music playlists are increasingly used in dementia and cognitive care, and Khalil’s findings could inform more targeted strategies - such as emphasizing lyrical content to enhance recall. Because music is accessible, non-invasive, and cost-effective, it holds strong potential as a memory aid in both clinical and community settings. The consistent ability of music to evoke positive memories also suggests it could serve as a powerful tool to promote well-being and joy in aging populations.
Khalil’s dedication to aging research is deeply rooted in personal values. He credits not only his academic mentors, like Dr. Fernandes, but also his experiences within his local religious community—where respect and care for older adults is a core principle - as key influences in his research path.
While acknowledging the challenges of studying aging - such as the variability of individual aging trajectories and the difficulty of recruiting diverse participant samples - Khalil remains optimistic about the field’s future. He is particularly excited by interdisciplinary collaborations and the opportunities they provide to uncover new insights into the aging process.
As he prepares to begin his PhD at the University of ݮƵ this fall, Khalil is eager to continue investigating how aging influences memory and cognition. “There are still many open questions about how our cognitive machinery to retrieve memories changes across the lifespan, and continuing this research can hopefully produce ways to protect memory as we age, helping older adults live more joyous, fulfilled lives. Working with older adults is also an amazing experience—they’re often excited to get involved and bring a lot of warmth and meaning to the research experience.”
Khalil’s work sits at the intersection of science, art, and humanity, demonstrating how a deep curiosity about the brain, combined with a lifelong love of music, can lead to research that is both rigorous and profoundly compassionate. As the population continues to age, his findings offer a hopeful reminder that memory and meaning can be nurtured in creative, accessible ways. By harnessing the emotional and cognitive power of music, Khalil is helping to illuminate new paths toward connection, dignity, and joy in later life.
Khalil Husein is a Master’s student in the Cognitive Neuroscience program at the University of ݮƵ, supervised by Dr. Myra Fernandes in the Department of Psychology. With a BSc in Integrated Science from McMaster University, Khalil’s research focuses on how music evokes autobiographical memories in aging populations, with an emphasis on the emotional and cognitive effects of lyrics and instrumentals. His work aims to inform therapeutic strategies that use music to enhance memory and well-being in older adults. For research inquiries, he can be reached at khalil.husein@uwaterloo.ca.
In addition to his graduate studies, Khalil is the co-ordinator for the 'ݮƵ Research in Aging Participant (WRAP) pool.Anyone interested in participating in research studies, who is over age 60, can join the ݮƵ Research in Aging participant database. Visit their website here for more details.
If you are interested in nominating a student for NAR's Emerging Researchers series, please contact us at nar@uwaterloo.ca.