Why does music have the capability to stimulate specific memories in

humans?

Dana Ariel Stahl

Senior Project Advisor: Janae Hunderman

12th Grade Humanities

Animas High School
26 February 2017
 Part I: Introduction

Honey but when you are near me, I am in the mood for love (Sinatra). Towards the end

of his life, this was all we ever seemed to hear from my Grandpa. He was diagnosed with

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dementia when he turned 93, and for the last few years of his life, it was close to impossible for

him to place himself on the timeline of his own life. As a musician, I always brought my guitar

with me to the nursing home to play Im in the Mood for Love by Frank Sinatra for him. This

specific song was released by Frances Langford in the hit movie Every Night at Eight in 1935. At

this time, my grandfather was a 15 year-old living in Peterborough, New Hampshire, and

working at the local movie theatre. This song brought him back to his teenage years, through the

lyrics, sound waves, and his memories of the movie. Through music, he was able to find himself

again.

Many studies have shown that music has the capability to move us. Physically and

mentally, there is something about the way our brains and specific sound waves interact together,

making it possible for music to do things like stimulate emotions, control our actions, and remind

us of certain memories. All over the world, humans utilize music as a type of therapy for many

problems we may be facing. The correlation between a melody and a memory, is truly

fascinating in regards to human habit and music has the capability of stimulating specific

memories in humans through ambiance, connection to the original memory, and specific sound

waves and lyrics.

Part II: Historical Context

When delving into the relationship between music and memory, we must first address the

importance of the relationship between music and health. In 1741, musicologist Gtry completed

a study based on the efficiency of heart rate regulation through musical stimulation. He found

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that the average song and the average heart rate have the same amount of bpms (beats per

minute) at 70-100 through many different experiments that looked at the relationship between

musical rhythm and physical rhythm. Further, he was able to increase peoples heart rates with

songs that had higher bpms (170-180), and decrease them with songs that had lower bpms (50-

60). Gtrys research essentially proved that music has the capability to regulate our heartbeats

and assist our health.

Throughout the decades, music has been used as a form of therapy for humans. During

the great depression, songs like Brother, Can You Spare A Dime? by Rudy Vallee and We

Sure Got Hard Times by Barbecue Bob acted as a way of coping for people suffering under the

collapsing economy. Combining happier types of music with realistic and melancholy lyrical

content assisted people all over the United States. From a cultural stance, music is used as a

tribal symbol; almost as a god, in many different indigenous cultures. In the Guarijio tribe, an

indigenous tribe from the northwestern mountains of Sonora, Mexico, there is a specific dance:

aThe Tuburada. This is a rain dance, which is initiated in times of drought. These people

believe that music holds the power to bring rain, and therefore, it assists them in many more

ways than just something to dance to.

There are many theories claiming that music and sound have external powers over the

mental state of humans. The most popular is the Mozart Effect, indicating that listening to

Mozart's music may induce a short-term improvement on the performance of certain kinds of

mental tasks known as spatial-temporal reasoning.

Part III: Research and Analysis

Sad Music vs. Happy Music and Emotion

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 Looking at the relationship between a memory and a melody, we must primarily consider

the ambiance behind the original memory and its relationship with music. From studying the

article Music for a Brighter World: Brightness Judgment Bias by Musical Emotion written

about brightness perception versus different musical primes, we can conclude that there are

certain rules that the music must follow in order for it to have effect over brightness perception

and happiness. The correlation between music and brightness perception is extremely

fascinating. Brightness perception is the way in which a color is perceived on a scale of bright to

dark. This correlation was tested through a number of experiments that used grey squares to

measure brightness perception through the GEMS ( the Geneva Emotional Music Scale). Each

participant of the experiment was prompted with a song from each musical prime. A musical

prime is the type of music that was used. The primes used were: happiness, sadness, scariness,

and peacefulness.

The participants listened to a song of each prime and then were shown a picture of a grey

square. For each square they were asked to rate it on a darkness to brightness scale. Even though

all of the squares were of the same amount of brightness, each one was rated differently

depending on the prime of song that was played in the beginning of the experiment. The

experiment found that the happier the song, the brighter the shade of grey was perceived.

Equally, the sadder the song, the darker it was perceived. It can be concluded that positive music

(happy, upbeat, peaceful) correlates to brightness, and negative music (sad, melancholy, angry,

scared) correlates to darkness. From this, we can examine that both sides of this spectrum, the

darkness to brightness scale, are crucial to each persons happiness based on music and how they

react to specific song stimulus. This experiment demonstrates how music can affect ones

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perception of the mood or emotions of an experience. Beyond this, it impacts our perception of

physical and sensory input.

Technically, it can be as simple as looking at major chords vs. minor chords; the third of

each is what holds all power of feeling. A musical chord is a set of three or more notes that

combine together to produce the sound of one pitch. Within the rules of music theory, a major

chord is the chord used to convey happiness, and the minor chord is used to convey sadness. In

both types of chords, you will find the third note, but you will find either a major third or a minor

third. In all chords, the arrangement of notes put together is what makes either a happy, bright

sound, or a dark, sad sound. A minor third is one note lower than that of a major chord. For

example, when the notes C and Eb are put together, we will hear a minor chord, but if C is paired

with E, it is a major. This occurs because Eb is one half note lower than E. This study concluded

that the two musical primes of happiness and sadness have the biggest impact over brightness

perception. Using happy music as an indicator of brightness and sad music as an indicator of

darkness, we can stimulate specific memories based on the emotions we were feeling at the time.

Another study, Memorable Experiences with Sad MusicReasons, Reactions and

Mechanisms of Three Types of Experiences, written by Thomas Eurola, concluded similar

results based on the importance of memorable experiences taken from sad music. The main point

of this article is to suggest that sad music has more power over human emotion than happy music

has because of the familiarity of melancholy feelings.

According to Eurola, Sadness is an emotion commonly associated with music, in which

context it is often paradoxically, related to pleasurable experiences. (4). Sometimes, we can

even find ourselves listening to specifically sad songs, just in order to feel sad as well as happy

songs to feel enjoyment. This quote suggest that as humans, we strive to feel our own sadness;

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music makes room for our pain. Music tends to act as an enhancer of each emotion. When we

feel our pain, it is sometimes hard to let ourselves feel the extent of it, because we are searching

for a resolution to it. Lyrics play a grand part in the resolution of many of our feelings. We find

connection and solidarity in knowing that someone else in the world that has experienced similar

pain. This is the reason that we can almost always find a song to relate to considering each of the

problems we are facing.

This article, Memorable Experiences with Sad MusicReasons, Reactions and

Mechanisms of Three Types of Experiences, argues that it is at times, easier to recognize

melancholy feelings rather than feelings that are completely happy. Happier memories send

doses of dopamine to our brain when we think of them, and all of those feelings can easily blend

together to seem like just one big memory; a memory of simple happiness. Sadness is recognized

in the brain in many different ways. It can sometimes seem like a type of anger, or stress, or even

a sort of peacefulness. Because there are so many different ways of feeling sad, it is easier to

recognize them specifically. This sense of familiarity can actually trick our brain into recognizing

happy music as sad, because many there are so many different types of sadness, that happiness

could easily fall into one of the categories. Further, the brain can be led to recall a sad memory

when hearing a song that is actually associated with a happy memory.

Motion Through Music

As humans, each of us can find a specific connection to music and movement. No matter

whom we converse with, it is difficult to encounter a human that claims they have no favorite

song, or doesnt like to dance. Humans have a special connection to rhythm and sound and this is

one of the specific reasons why only few of us can deny music as a crucial part of our everyday

lives. We can find a beat with almost everything; whether it be the clothes bumping around in the

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dryer, the birds singing when we first wake, or the waves crashing in perfect rhythm with the

tides. Motion and emotion correlate in many more ways than we typically realize.

The common theme of feeling movement through music is one that has continuously

brought up questions regarding the relationship between motion and emotion. This is a

relationship that seems to be purely about the connection between two states: mental and

physical. One way of defining this relationship is through dance.

The article From Motion to Emotion: Accelerometer Data Predict Subjective Experience

of Music by Melanie Irrgang and Hauke Egermann, proclaims that the idea that music has the

power to affect motions, and through movements, allows us to control our emotions.

Irrgang and Eggerman describe two different studies done in effort to prove that we can

predict subjective musical experiences through motion as well as emotion. Each experiment

came to the conclusion that depending on the type of musical stimuli, (its location on the happy

to sad scale), each emotion was able to be explained by certain movement patterns. Examining

the corporeal1 description of music, each participant was able to produce movement data that

could be used to predict emotion ratings. The main musical aspect that was focused on for these

experiments was rhythm. In happier songs, we tend to recognize faster rhythms to stimulate the

feeling of moving forward. Going back and looking deeply at the study done by Gtry, we can

assume that rhythm has a direct correlation to heartbeat. This is the reason that we are able to

regulate health related problems like heart rate that correlate with the amount of bpms of a

certain song. In slower songs, the amount of bpms is less and this is why we have the capability

to calm ourselves down if listening to slower music.

1 Relating to a person's body, especially as opposed to their spirit.

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 Irrgang and Eggerman focus closely on the concept of musical acceleration-the speed of

which a song increases in beats per minute. They clarify that musical acceleration data seems to

not sufficiently cover nostalgic or transcendent gestures. In this article the term acceleration is

used as a way to define an increase in tempo. As analysis of this study suggests, Acceleration

does not determine the absolute position in space, it is particularly difficult for slow but big

gestures to be captured. (2). Movements are such a big aspect of music and emotion. Dance is a

stimulus that can completely turn emotions around. Feeling the beat of a song brings momentum

to our current sense of self and this essentially provides the capability of memory stimulation. By

providing a beat that is similar to one that could be found in the original memory, music takes

our bodies back into the original feeling of momentum that the memory holds. We know that the

relationship between music, motion, and humans is crucial to our well being.

Memory and its Relation to Music Through the Brain

Music makes room for our pain, specifically our painful memories. Focusing deeper on the

theory that music has power over elderly patients with the diseases Alzheimers and dementia,

many sources claim that music has this power through ambiance and specific soundwaves and

lyrics of the song. When considering the relationship between music and memory most people

would jump to the conclusion that hearing a certain song has the power to stimulate the memory

of when we originally heard the song. But there is so much more that music has the capability to

do. Without having an original song connected to the original memory, music still carries the

capability to stimulate specific memories.

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 The article, Dementia and the Power of Music Therapy written by Steve Matthews (a

professor of bioethics at the Plunkett Centre for Ethics), outlines the main effects of dementia

and how music can be used as a source of therapy and restoration. Music therapy is a therapeutic

practice that uses music to restore parts of the brain as well as regulate emotions. As a person is

developing dementia, specific areas of the brain become dormant, specifically memory cells and

the medial temporal lobe which includes all parts including; the hippocampus, the amygdala, the

cingulate gyrus, the thalamus, the hypothalamus, the epithalamus, the mammillary body. These

are all crucial to the processing of each memory. Music therapy is neuroprotective, meaning that

it helps to preserve neuronal structure. It is also neurodegenerative so it can slow the progression

of the disease (dementia) and resuscitate dormant areas of the medial temporal lobe.

Matthews speaks of an old man battling dementia named Henry. He is featured

throughout the article as many examples are given of how music helps to wake him from his

brain slumber. Matthews describes how Henry can benefit from music therapy:

Henry is in a state of severe ill-being in which self-esteem, agency, social

confidence and hope seem to have gone. But this apathetic condition is not

insuperable: when Henrys carers expose him to his favourite music he is ignited,

sitting up, he begins to move to the music, his eyes wide, his demeanour

transformed. (3).

Through Henry, we can examine how this specific type of therapy has the power to

control memories because it has the capability to bring an uncomfortable patient to a more

settled and familiar state of being. Responsive, happy, excited, and in the correct moment, he is

able to understand exactly what is going on with him and why the music has such a great power

over him. Matthews describes this reaction:

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 The therapeutic action resuscitates dormant but functionally intact systems (these three

possibilities, particularly the last two, are not incompatible). I have found only one

reference supporting the first possibility, the regeneration claim. The neuroprotection

claim is hard to test with absolute rigor because ideally only a randomized controlled

twin study would demonstrate the connection between music therapy and delay of onset

of dementia or slowed progress of the disease. (2)

Neuroprotection has the capability to regenerate and resuscitate certain memory cells

within the brain. When the disease of dementia is initially enacted within the brain, it has the

power of shutting down specific areas of the brain, specifically; the hippocampus, amygdala, and

mammillary body. All three of these are part of the medial temporal lobe of the brain and are

crucial to the processing of each individual memory. When they are shut down from the

infection, memory processing is impossible. But when music comes in with specific

soundwaves, all three parts are resuscitated and can then function normally again.

For many people the simple connection of a song from their childhood brings them back

and gives them the capability to find their sense of time. But for others, they need other specific

reminders combined with the actual song. These specific reminders fall under the category of

ambiance. This includes brightness, temperature, and the overall environment and atmosphere of

a specific situation.

The Lifetime Soundtrack: Music as an Archive for Autobiographical Memory, uses

evidence from a qualitative study that looked at how music can evoke different emotions through

memory and encapsulate different experiences as a theme with certain types of music. This study

included one on one studies with 28 adults from Queensland, Australia. Through a chronological

discussion, participants ranging from18-82 years old discussed their life story and how music

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had affected each part of it. Through each story, the major themes found were aesthetic, sound,

and memory. Aesthetic was found when looking at the setting of each story. Was it outside,

inside, light, or dark? Each story had its high points, as well as low points, but each had a certain

situation that was able to be fixed by a certain song. This is because the certain song connected

with the aesthetic of the situation as well as the soundwaves. When all three of these themes are

combined, you can realize why music brought them back to each time of their lives. The study

concluded that music has the capability to evoke certain memories and access them because of

certain lyrics, melodies, sound waves, tempo, rhythm, pitch, and also, aesthetics. Just as

emotive lyrics can surpass the subtleties of spoken language (Frith 1987; Horton 1990 [1957]),

so too can the sound of music connect with humans in complex and meaningful ways

(Istvandity 9). This quote powerfully explains the process in which music is given the power of

memory stimulation. Music as well as musical words (lyrics) have a power that goes farther than

spoken words. Music contains the healing power that is so specific that nothing can surpass it in

all of its glory.

Each article we have referred to focuses on the relationship that we can find between

music, human health, rhythm, and specific sound waves. The conclusion can be drawn that there

are many different factors that come into play when understanding the relationship between a

memory and a melody.

Part IV: Conclusions

Having a grandfather who suffered from dementia and found a safe haven within the

experience of music therapy, I can personally draw many connections through studying the

relationship between a melody and a memory. Music and sound have great power among human

beings and the correlation between a memory and a melody exhibit that power perfectly.

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 Asking the question: Why does music have the capability to stimulate specific memories?

leaves the door open to many other leading questions. Some of which may be categorized

through: ambiance (aesthetics), lyrical components, and sound waves directly correlating with

the medial lobe of our brain. We can accept that music has the capability to stimulate specific

memories through ambiance, lyrical components of the stimulus, and sound waves.

There are two different bases that we must recognize order to to understand the process in

which music stimulates specific memories. Both bases are crucial to the stimulation of an

original memory. The first base that we must understand is the original memory and all of its

properties. This is the memory that our brain tries to stimulate (remember) when conversing with

different sound waves. These properties may be physical as well as internal. Each detail of this

specific memory is crucial to the development of the stimulation. The second base is the song

used as stimuli. Lyrical content, soundwaves, and beats per minute are factors that have power

over the stimulation.

Primarily, we must understand the properties of the original ambiance behind the

memory. The aesthetic of the memory sets the atmosphere. The term ambiance includes the

specific lighting (dark/bright), the aura of the specific location, temperature (hot/cold) and

specific characteristics of the environment. These specific characteristics can include: romantic,

relaxed, busy, or other adjectives that describes the overall atmosphere of the set environment.

This trait of the original memory holds power over the stimulation.

Second, we must understand the musicality of the original memory. In this case, music is

not defined as a specific song or arrangement of music, but rather as the arrangement of sounds

that were occurring at the time that the original memory took place. This could, in specific cases,

indicate that a song was playing. But in most cases the musicality would signify the sound

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happening on the outside. This would need to be determined by the atmosphere of the memory.

Some components to be considered would be; Is the memory occurring in and inside

environment, or an outside memory? Is there an external beat (a beat not made by a defined

instrument)? For example, if the original memory was set outside, there may be crickets chirping

or the sound of water flowing. If the musicality includes an actual song or composition, another

trait to consider is the lyrical components of the song.

Ambiance and aesthetics play a grand role in the determination of this correlation. If the

song demonstrates even the slightest resemblance to a trait of the original ambiance, it will assist

the stimulation positively. For example, if the original memory took place in nature, and the

listener experienced the sound of a bird chirping, specific woodwind tones can often create a

fake experience of the actual bird chirping.

The actual musicality must correlate as well from the original memory to the stimulus. As

mentioned before, the rhythm, tone, pitch, and tempo must demonstrate similar qualities to those

of the original memory.

Music therapy and memory stimulation may be crucial to the development of humans and

our relationship with music and sound. Music has the capability of stimulating specific memories

in humans through ambiance, connection to the original memory, and specific sound waves and

lyrics. Music also has the ability to make room for our pain, even if that may mean revisiting it

through nostalgic memories.

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 Bibliography

Bhattacharya, Joydeep, and Job P. Lindsen. "Music for a Brighter World: Brightness
Judgment Bias by Musical Emotion." Plos ONE 11, no. 2 (February 10, 2016): 1-11.
Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed January 17, 2017).

Eerola, Tuomas, and Henna-Riikka Peltola. "Memorable Experiences with Sad Music
Reasons, Reactions and Mechanisms of Three Types of Experiences." Plos ONE 11, no. 6
(June 14, 2016): 1-29. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed January 17,
2017).

Irrgang, Melanie, and Hauke Egermann. "From Motion to Emotion: Accelerometer Data
Predict Subjective Experience of Music." Plos ONE 11, no. 7 (July 14, 2016): 1-20.
Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed January 17, 2017).

Michael J. "Effects of Live and Educational Music Therapy on Working Alliance and Trust With
Patients on Detoxification Unit: A Four-Group Cluster-Randomized Trial." Substance
Use & Misuse 51, no. 13 (November 2016): 1741-1750. Academic Search Premier,
EBSCOhost (accessed January 17, 2017).

Sinatra, Frank. Im in the Mood for Love Records, Columbia, 1942.

Langford, Frances.Im in the Mood for Love Every Night at Eight, 1935.

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