Music Can Change The Way You Think

Have you ever been guilty of blasting R.E.M.’s Everybody Hurts when in a crushed mood? Perhaps you’ve played some FISHER to get you in a positive mood for the day before? 

According to recent studies, the way we interact with music may be psychologically beneficial for our brain, working like a masseuse to transform how we feel about our malleable memories and improve focus for future memory retention.

A study led by Georgia Institute of Technology PhD candidate Yiren Ren has shown that in addition to enhanced concentration, music can affect our emotions and even change how we remember things. Ren, an innovator in neuroimaging, recently published two major research papers on the causation of music on memory. 

"These studies are connected because they both explore innovative applications of music in memory modulation, offering insights for both everyday and clinical use," she stated.

Ren’s co-author, Thackery Brown, further explains:

"One paper looks at how music changes the quality of your memory when you're first forming it—it's about learning," says Brown, a cognitive neuroscientist and associate professor of Georgia Tech’s MAP (Memory, Affect, and Planning) Lab. "But the other study focuses on memories we already have and asks if we can change the emotions attached to them using music."

While a lot of us already know how a song can kickstart us back into a memory - such as your wedding song or the song you kept on repeat during a bad period - the concept of changing pre-existing emotional ties is relatively new. 

Neuroplasticity is a term used to show that the brain in our head that runs the show is more malleable than we think - the term is used to describe the ability of neural pathways in the brain to re-form and create new pathways via reorganisation.

This neuroplasticity is exercised when one learns a second language or perhaps a new instrument and also forms the basis of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). Research shows that by listening to certain music while thinking of a past memory, we can change the emotions tied to that memory. Even after the song has finished, the results can linger. 

Music engages a diverse network of brain regions, such as auditory processing, motor responses, and attention. Using fMRI, Ren and colleagues studied such regions while randomised participants focused on a memory while listening to certain movie soundtracks with different moods. The study found that participants were able to incorporate the soundtrack moods into their memories, with retention of the new associated mood sticking in the days following the experiment. 

"This sheds light on the malleability of memory in response to music and the powerful role music can play in altering our existing memories,” Ren commented. 

You can check out the study here.