Music-related memory

Music-related memory involves the unique process through which pieces of music are remembered, as well as the capacity for music to trigger powerful emotional responses to linked memories. For example, a middle-aged person may hear a song that was popular in their teenage years and automatically recall a specific memory or feeling from that time. Studies have shown that the brain processes and recalls musical information differently than linguistic information, though the exact mechanisms are not fully understood. Music can trigger such complex recollections that many psychologists believe it plays a fundamental role in shaping self-identity and in maintaining the integrity of the self through memory. The interest in the relationship between music and memory has impacted cutting-edge research in memory loss and recovery, Alzheimer’s disease and dementia treatment protocols, and amnesia treatments. In addition, sociologists and anthropologists have begun to research how music may actually shape family and community relationships from generation to generation.

Background

Researchers have long been interested in the effects of music, including its links to emotion and memory. Music is thought to have existed in even the earliest human societies, and melodies and other elements of music have been used throughout history as mnemonic devices for memory enhancement, particularly when most culture was handed down through oral tradition. A contemporary example in English and other languages is the rhyming song used to help children memorize the alphabet. Modern neuroscientific studies have confirmed that setting words to music enables them to be remembered more easily.

Though the way in which the relationship between music and memory works is not fully understood, studies of the brain suggest it is deeply ingrained in neurological processes. Listening to music triggers the auditory cortex, which combines elements such as melody, harmony, and rhythm into the complex experience of a song. Further interaction with the music, such as interpreting lyrical content, dancing, or singing along, stimulates other parts of the brain in both hemispheres, which are each variously instrumental in functions of the mind and body such as attention and motion. The medial prefrontal cortex in particular has been identified as a crucial brain region connecting music and memory. Music notably stimulates the emotions, with enjoyable songs causing a release of neurochemicals such as serotonin and dopamine, and can also trigger the urge to be creative.

Researchers have paid particular attention to the common phenomenon in which music from one’s youth continues to bring about powerful memories and complex emotions later in life—known as a reminiscence bump. Studies suggest that part of the reason for this is that the brain is developing at a rapid pace during one’s teens and early adulthood, and both positive and negative neurochemical responses are heightened. Therefore the music one listens to as a youth actually stimulates the brain more powerfully than music heard at other points in life, and the growth hormones of puberty help imprint that music on the brain and closely associate it with other strong memories and emotions from the time. The process is further enhanced by the fact that adolescence and early adulthood is a critical time in forming one’s social identity, and music often plays a key role in the powerful social situations that shape life for years afterward. Such deeply rooted, emotional memories are often considered unconscious or implicit memories, in contrast to explicit memories, which involve a focused effort to recall something.

Topic Today

In the early twenty-first century, cutting-edge neurological research is attempting to connect music-related memory to clinical treatments of brain and memory disorders. If music can enhance memory, then music may be appropriate as a treatment for patients recovering from a stroke or in the early stages of dementia, for example. In treating patients with traumatic brain injuries that have impacted memory, music therapy has been shown to help spur involuntary personal memory activity. Alzheimer’s disease patients often can remember specific pieces of music even when other memories have faded, and doctors have experimented with playing familiar songs as part of long-term treatment, as it is believed to encourage other memory recollection. In addition, when regular treatments are administered with the background of familiar or even neutral music, patients often show enhanced ability to respond to treatment protocols, suggesting that music generally stimulates the brain in positive ways. Music has been shown in various studies to make patients less depressed and more engaged, soothe agitation, and foster physical and emotional affection. These mood and attitude improvements in turn can enhance longer-term stability or recovery.

Music-related memory continues to be investigated and harnessed in other areas as well. Advertisers have long acknowledged the power of an effective jingle, or a short, catchy melody that accompanies a commercial. Consumers remember and respond to a song far more than they do to a phrase or slogan on its own. Educators, noting that at the primary school students given new material in song are far more likely to remember the material, have introduced programs systematically using music to enhance information retention. Students who study music itself, training to more actively understand and engage with musical structure and details such as notes and phrasing, have been shown to be more adept at memorization. Research has frequently shown that students who listen to music or take music lessons regularly show improved cognitive ability.

Despite the many positive connections between music and memory, research has also shown that music can negatively impact brain activity in some cases—most notably, when music is played too loud. A bombardment of notes and sounds can overwhelm the brain and divert attention from other stimuli, such as a conversation or reading material. For example, students who tour a museum wearing headphones and listening to loud music are less efficient in recalling what they saw than those who did not listen to music. Adolescents who drive music blaring in a car have been shown to be more like to get lost, to make a wrong turn, or to violate traffic laws, as their attention is too focused on the music. However, such impacts of music depend on other factors as well; studies suggest introverts experience a greater decline in cognitive ability in the presence of distracting music than do extroverts.

Bibliography

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Cochrane, Tom, Bernardino Fantini, and Klaus R. Scherer, eds. The Emotional Power of Music: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Musical Arousal, Expression, and Social Control. Oxford UP, 2013. Print.

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Krumhansl, Carol Lynne, and Justin Adam Zupnick. "Cascading Reminiscence Bumps in Popular Music." Psychological Science 24.10 (2013): 2057–68. Print.

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