Article by Fabafterfifty
If music be the food of love- play on! Why does music evoke such strong memories? It can make you feel compelled to dance as soon as a certain song is played at a party – who can resist’ Twist and Shout’ or ‘Dancing Queen’ There’s no doubting the power of a tune that can bring back the memories of first love, first kiss, first school disco, the walk up the aisle.
Perhaps William Shakespeare was ahead of his time when he came up with his infamous phrase! It would appear that there are good reasons as to why we respond so strongly to music
Research conducted at the UC Davis in California set out to find out why. By mapping the brain activity of a group of subjects while they listened to music, they think they might have come up with the answer. It seems the region of the brain where memories of our past are supported and retrieved also serves as a hub that links familiar music, memories and emotion.
“A piece of familiar music serves as a soundtrack for a mental movie that starts playing in our heads. It calls back memories of a particular person or place, and you might all of a sudden see that person’s face in your mind’s eye,” according to Petr Janata who conducted the reesearch and made the discovery “Now we can see the association between those two things – the music and the memories.”
Interestingly it would seem that music can provide great therapy for Alzheimer’s patients, as the part of the brain where music is stored is the last to be affected by the disease.
So continue to name that tune and bring back fond memories!
Just to give you a helping hand we have a forum discussion group ‘Musical Memories’ where you can reminisce . You can also share your favourite youtube music video clips.
So whatever the song that brings back memories for you, do share with other Fabafterfifty readers. Let the Music Play On! 🙂
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