How Music Brings Us Home For The Holidays: The Science Of Music and Memory

(Illustrations/Livia Falcaru)

Have you ever heard a song while you're out running errands and suddenly felt like you were transported somewhere else? Have you recalled the exact details of where you were and what it felt like to hear that melody for the first time? That has certainly happened to me, especially around the holidays.

The radio seems to cycle the same classics each year: "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree", "All I Want For Christmas Is You", and my personal favorite, "Last Christmas". Once I hear the intro to that song, I become that 10-year-old girl again, watching the snow gently fall onto the window beside me and feeling so excited for Christmas Day. Something felt different this year, and I realized that I had gone most of the holiday season without listening to the very song that made it feel like the holidays. How is it that one song can activate so many memories and emotions?

Let's get into the science of it all. Music activates the entire limbic system, a part of the brain that is involved in "processing emotions and in controlling memory"(Jäncke L. Music, memory and emotion. J Biol. 2008). Paul McQuiston uses the term "nostalgic music" to describe songs that we associate with specific times in our lives, like the holiday season. USC researcher Assal Habibi states that listening to nostalgic music involves not only "traditional memory networks of the brain" but also "the reward, narrative, and self-processing systems." Music can remind us of joyful moments, the way we experienced them, and how we incorporated them into our sense of self. In a way, music reminds us of who we are.

It is no wonder that music therapy is an effective treatment for Alzheimer's, dementia, and other diseases that lead to memory loss. If deeply felt emotions create memories, and certain music elicits a profound emotional response due to its association with certain times in our lives, it seems we can access long-forgotten memories by simply pressing play.

We can access those memories and create new ones within music therapy sessions. Working with a trained music therapist helps clients connect to their past in a healthy and safe way. If you would like to discover how music therapy or music lessons can enrich your life or that of a loved one, contact us for a consultation—and experience the power of music this holiday season. Happy Holidays!

Miss K, MT-BC