Memories
My son received a music box for Christmas this year. He brought the music box to show me, big grin on his face, waking me from sleep. “Listen mom, isnt it beautiful”. The music was a song I recognized from my childhood. ‘Memories’ a melancholy tune from the musical CATS.
…All alone in the moonlight
I can smile at the old days
I was beautiful then
I remember the time I knew what happiness was
Let the memory live again….
Music, a powerful language that spans cultures, language and time. An earnest attempt to connect shared experiences, thru story. It has a begining, middle and end, but at the same time perennial. Able to stir emotions we may have left behind in seasons past. It may even be a way for non -verbal communication in people who suffer from autism, alzheimer’s or developmental disabilities.
When sounds enter our brain, our minds translate these sounds into patterns, which triggers the brain to release different chemicals into circulation. Studies have shown that beautiful music will trigger the release of dopamine in the brain, inducing a pleasurable experience in the body. Dopamine also helps us to think, plan, focus, and motivates us to action. Other research has shown that when people listen to groups singing, and improvising together, oxytocin is released in the brain, which creates the emotion of empathy and love. So it could be hypothesized that music may even help people to work together and cooperate toward a common goal.
The song from my son’s music box on this cold winter morning, stirred in me an emotion of nostalgia for my childhood. I could remember the words as the tune played from the box, and almost felt as if I were a child for a moment. The song created a bridge to the emotions of my past. Many people listen to music to experience emotion. Music becomes this autobiographical soundtrack to our lives, some songs evoking joy and others pain. A powerful tool to re visit important milestones from our past, the first kiss, the birth of a child, the last time we saw a loved one.
My husband always marvels at my ability to recall the words to songs I haven’t heard for decades. While appearing to be magic, the answer lies somewhere else, the hippocampus. this brain structure, whose name sounds like a large african creature, is actually a small area embedded deep into the temporal lobe. It is part of the limbic system and plays an important role in creation of memories in the brain. The limbic system, includes the hippocampus, the amygdala and hypothalamus. The amygdala, an almond shaped structure, located adjacent the hippocampus, is responsible for emotion. It helps us retain memories by attaching emotion to them. Finally, the hypothalamus, takes this information and uses it to create the emotions in our body, thru regulation of our autonomic functions. It is capable of speeding up or slowing down the heart rate, or changing our breathing from shallow to deep, typically without our conscious awareness of these changes occurring.
Micah, my 9 year old son, is creative and tender. He is just begining to creating the memories that will become the fabric of his life. Maybe the sounds from this music box, will have left a small imprint on him. For now he has moved on to his legos, and left his music box on my bedside table. The sun floods thru the windows of my northern California home, I wipe the sleep from my eyes, and rise to greet the day.