What is "Music and Memories"?
Music and Memories refers to the term musical-related memories, This is the ability to music related information. This includes; beat counts, lyrics, melody, etc. This small detail can be important when relating to memories and emotion since it can invoke feelings such as happiness, sadness, etc. The music stimulates the hippocampus, the part of the brain that controls memory, and allows the brain to once again remember the way you used to feel when you listened to that song years ago.
How Does This Work Exactly?
Like previously stated the music stimulates the hippocampus inside of your brain, but how? When you hear the song from your youth or childhood your brain will automatically make connections to memories of the time when that song was either popular or just your favorite song. An example of this would be if you had a favorite song when you were 25 years old. After a few years you stop hearing that song play and slowly forget it. Later when you become a victim of a form of dementia and you hear that song again, your brain will automatically remember all the times you had while listening to that song or the time period where you would listen to that song over and over.
Feeling Connections to Music
Think of it this way, how did you feel first listening to your favorite song? I'm going to guess you felt happy, excited or somewhere between those lines. Now lets say you somehow forgot about this song. A couple months pass and you hear the song once more. How did you feel hearing a song you once loved again? If you felt the same way you did when you first heard this song, how do you think dementia patients will feel hearing an stimulating their brain in a way that invokes memories? They will be just like when you hear your old favorite song after not hearing it for years.