Research regarding the effect of rhythm on cognition has shown that isochronous rhythms can enhance maintenance in working memory. However, it is important to consider that much contemporary music includes both isochronous and non-isochronous rhythms simultaneously. To determine the practical benefits of this finding, it is necessary to explore rhythms thatclosely simulate contemporary music. The present study investigated how the maintenance-boosting effect of isochronous rhythm is affected by the simultaneous presence of a non-isochronous rhythm. Participants were tasked with remembering sequences of six letters for serial recall. In the rhythm condition, a woodblock sound was presented six times at regular intervals and a kick drum sound was presented eight times at irregular intervals during the delay between encoding and recall. In the silent condition, no sound was presented. The simultaneous presence of regular and irregular rhythms led to decreased memory performance compared to silence, suggesting that listening to complex rhythmic music can cause cognitive overload and disrupt attentional refreshing. These findings are discussed in relation to relevant theoretical frameworks and the limitations of this study.

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