\u201cWe found that whether music was negative or positive or whether it was familiar didn\u2019t have as much of an influence on memory as the emotional response people felt while listening to it,\u201d said study co-author Professor Stephanie Leal.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was an optimal level of emotional response that aided in remembering the details of an experience. Too much or too little emotional response had the opposite effect \u2013 worse memory for details, but better memory for the gist of an experience.\u201d<\/p>\n Music, memory, and emotions<\/p>\n The study involved volunteers who were shown pictures of everyday objects \u2013 things like oranges, laptops, and telephones. After viewing about 100 images, they listened to 10 minutes of classical music<\/a>. <\/p>\n When their emotional arousal had returned to normal, the volunteers were tested on what they remembered.<\/p>\n Some images were exactly the same. Some were slightly altered versions. Some were completely new. <\/p>\n Participants had to say whether they had seen the object before and if it was identical or different. They also answered questions about how the music made them feel and whether it was familiar.<\/p>\n The music itself didn\u2019t boost memory across the board. But it helped some people a lot \u2013 especially when it came to spotting that an image was similar but not exactly the same.<\/p>\n The key factor? Emotional arousal<\/a>. The participants with the best recall weren\u2019t the ones who felt the strongest emotions. They were the ones who felt just enough.<\/p>\n How music shapes memory<\/p>\n Memory isn\u2019t just about capturing every detail. Most of the time, we\u2019re remembering the big picture \u2013 what researchers call gist-based memory. It\u2019s what helps us recall the idea of something without holding onto all the tiny facts. But sometimes, the details matter. That\u2019s where detail-based memory comes in.<\/p>\n \u201cWe used a task designed to tap into the difference between gist- and detail-based memory,\u201d said Leal. \u201cMusic helped with detail-based memory but only when the level of emotional arousal was just right for that person.\u201d<\/p>\n This makes sense. If you\u2019re overwhelmed, your brain might blur the details. If you\u2019re bored, it might not care enough to store them. There\u2019s a sweet spot in between where memory<\/a> for detail gets sharper.<\/p>\n Music in learning and therapy<\/p>\n The researchers say this kind of emotional \u201ctuning\u201d could eventually help in real-world situations. <\/p>\n For example, listening to moderately arousing music after studying might help you hold onto more precise information for a test. But music that\u2019s too emotional might have the opposite effect.<\/p>\n \u201cMusic has the ability to influence a part of your brain<\/a> called the hippocampus, which is essential for turning experiences into memories,\u201d Leal said. \u201cWe think it should be possible to tap into that in a selective way to boost or impair memory depending on the therapeutic goals.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s not just about learning. This could also help with memory loss in aging, or in people with early-stage Alzheimer\u2019s<\/a>. And for people with anxiety or PTSD<\/a>, music might help them remember the general idea of a tough experience \u2013 without reliving every sharp edge of it.<\/p>\n Different effects for everyone<\/p>\n The challenge is that what works emotionally varies a lot between people. What\u2019s \u201cmoderately arousing\u201d for one person might not hit the same for another. That\u2019s why this line of research is moving toward personalized therapy.<\/p>\n \u201cIn my lab, we\u2019re trying to detect changes in the brain and cognition early. Music is noninvasive, low cost, and easy to personalize, and by learning more about the mechanisms that connect it to memory, we can develop treatments and interventions to prevent the disease from progressing,\u201d Leal said. <\/p>\n \u201cIf the federal government reduces funding for Alzheimer\u2019s research, the chances that we\u2019ll be able to develop this line of research into inexpensive yet effective treatments are very low, as developing personalized treatments requires lots of participants in research to really capture individual needs.\u201d<\/p>\n In other words, music isn\u2019t just for playlists and background noise. If we can figure out how to fine-tune its emotional effects, it could become a powerful way to shape how we remember \u2013 and how we heal.<\/p>\n The full study was published in the journal JNeurosci<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2014\u2013<\/p>\n Like what you read? Subscribe to our newsletter<\/a> for engaging articles, exclusive content, and the latest updates.\u00a0<\/p>\n Check us out on EarthSnap<\/a>, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls<\/a> and Earth.com.<\/p>\n \u2014\u2013<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Most of us know music can make life feel lighter \u2013 it turns chores into something tolerable and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":82022,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[64,63,134,136],"class_list":["post-82021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82021\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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