Music’s Emotional Power Can Shape Memories—And Your Perception Of Time

Researchers used music to elicit different emotions, then looked at how shifts in emotion influenced participants’ memory formation.

It can be hard to avoid the chime of classic Christmas songs at this time of year. Certain songs may even bring up potent memories, transporting a person to a specific moment in the past, like an afternoon baking cookies as a child, or warming up after playing in the snow.

Music, when coupled with emotion, has the ability to create powerful memories. And listening to songs associated with specific memories can almost feel like going back in time.

Better understanding how this mechanism works is the work of Assistant Professor Dr. David Clewett and PhD candidate Mason McClay, both in UCLA’s cognitive psychology department. They talk with SciFri producer Kathleen Davis about how this method could be used to improve therapies for PTSD and other memory disorders.

Transcripts for this segment will be available the week after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.

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