Scientists decode why certain songs unlock specific memories

By Stephen Beech

Upbeat songs trigger exciting memories while more mellow tunes evoke recollections of romance and sad times, according to new research.

A piece of music's energy level and mood impact the memories it evokes, say scientists.

They found that high-energy, less acoustic songs - such as dance or rap music - evoke personal memories featuring amusement and excitement.

But lower-energy, more acoustic tunes - such as classical music like Debussy’s "Clair de Lune" - triggered memories characterised by calmness, romance and sadness.

Researchers say their findings, published in the journal PLOS, could help improve reminiscence therapies for people with memory impairment conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Previous research has supported the potency of music in evoking vivid memories of the past, and autobiographical memories are known to help shape identity and self-development.

But few studies had explored whether specific auditory features of music - such as acousticness or low tempo - tend to evoke autobiographical memories with certain characteristics, such as a sad memory or a particularly vivid one.

To investigate, researchers at Goldsmiths University of London conducted an online survey study in which 233 participants answered questions about personal memories evoked by music: a self-selected piece alongside excerpts of popular songs from their childhood and early adulthood.

The research team used statistical approaches called principal components analysis and linear mixed-effects modelling to determine whether any particular qualities of the songs were strongly associated with any particular qualities of the memories they evoked.

They found that more acoustic, lower-energy songs tended to evoke memories characterised by feelings of aesthetic appreciation, adoration, calmness, romance, and sadness.

Memories evoked by such songs were also reported to be less social and more vivid, unique, and important.

However, less acoustic, higher-energy songs - such as Fetty Wap’s Trap Queen - tended to evoke memories of amusement, excitement, and high energy.

Memories evoked by such upbeat tracks also tended to be recalled more quickly.

Compared to memories evoked by pop songs, those triggered by the self-selected tunes tended to be more specific, vivid, positive, arousing, unique and important.

Safiyyah Nawaz, a doctoral candidate in music psychology at Goldsmiths, said: “We all know of the experience of hearing a song and being transported back in time to a vivid memory associated with that song.

"As it turns out, the properties of the music itself – characteristics like acousticness, loudness and energy – relate to the emotional and phenomenological qualities of the same musical memories.

"Among many interesting findings, we discovered that more acoustic songs were associated with memories that were more vivid, unique, and characterized by complex emotions like romance and adoration, whereas louder, more energetic songs were linked to social, exciting, high-energy memories that were recalled faster.”

She added: “In this research project, we collected and analysed over 1,400 musical memories, a process that was as humbling as it was thought-provoking.

"I saw how each song carries as many moments of life as there are listeners of that song, adding a new dimension to my personal understanding of music as something that is truly timeless.”

Dr. Diana Omigie, a cognitive neuroscientist at Goldsmiths, said: “Our in-depth analysis showed that it’s not just the musical features that influence memory, but also how much a person likes a song and how familiar it is to them."

The research team has begun building an online archive of musical memories.

Dr. Omigie added: "We hope future research will explore how musical elements interact with such personal elements to bring about the deep and meaningful memories that people experience in everyday life.”