Neural Nostalgia: Why do we love the music we heard as teenagers?

Patricia Thompson stashed this in Random Tidbits

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2014/08/musical_nostalgia_the_psychology_and_neuroscience_for_song_preference_and.html?wpsrc=fol_tw

Patricia Thompson
12:35 PM Aug 13 2014

Stashed in: Brain, Awesome, Music, Music Videos!, Music, Michael Jackson, 1980s, Neuroscience, Memory, Guardians of the Galaxy, @emilykatemoon, rock out!, Memory!

To save this post, select a stash from drop-down menu or type in a new one:

Brain imaging studies show that our favorite songs stimulate the brain’s pleasure circuit, which releases an influx of dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and other neurochemicals that make us feel good. The more we like a song, the more we get treated to neurochemical bliss, flooding our brains with some of the same neurotransmitters that cocaine chases after.

Music lights these sparks of neural activity in everybody. But in young people, the spark turns into a fireworks show. Between the ages of 12 and 22, our brains undergo rapid neurological development—and the music we love during that decade seems to get wired into our lobes for good. When we make neural connections to a song, we also create a strong memory trace that becomes laden with heightened emotion, thanks partly to a surfeit of pubertal growth hormones. These hormones tell our brains that everything is incredibly important—especially the songs that form the soundtrack to our teenage dreams (and embarrassments).

<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.mni.mcgill.ca/media/news/item/?item_id=170538">Brain imaging studies show</a> that our favorite songs stimulate the brain’s pleasure circuit, which releases an <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/v14/n2/full/nn.2726.html">influx of dopamine</a>, serotonin, oxytocin, and other neurochemicals that make us feel good. The more we like a song, the more we get treated to neurochemical bliss, flooding our brains with some of the same neurotransmitters that cocaine chases after.

Music lights these sparks of neural activity in everybody. But in young people, the spark turns into a fireworks show. Between the ages of 12 and 22, our brains undergo rapid neurological development—and the music we love during that decade seems to get wired into our lobes for good. When we make neural connections to a song, we also create a strong memory trace that becomes laden with heightened emotion, thanks partly to a surfeit of pubertal growth hormones. These hormones tell our brains that everything is incredibly important—especially the songs that form the soundtrack to our teenage dreams (and embarrassments).

Patricia Thompson
12:36 PM Aug 13 2014

It sounds like these connections stay with us for life.

I should have been more careful in my song selection as a teenager!

Adam Rifkin
5:10 PM Aug 13 2014

Shit... I thought I was finally rid of the one-hit wonders of the 70s... and now I'm going to be wanting to nostalgically reminisce with them in my 70s...