The Brain and the Effects of Music and the Concept of Nostalgia

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MU4002: Critical Encounters with Popular Music and Dance, University of Limerick, Irish World Academy of Music and Dance

What is 'nostalgia?' Nostalgia is the feeling of longing or desire, a want for a past memory or experience, a type of bittersweetness.

The world 'nostalgia' comes from the Greek terms of "Nostos" and "Algos," literally translating to "a homecoming, a return" and "a personification of both mental and physical pain." The word was first used in a Swiss medial dissertation written by Doctor Johannes Hofer in the late 1660's.

A Change in Perspective

Nostalgia wasn't always just a simple feeling in that which we associate with today; consider what 'nostalgia' may have been seen as in a much earlier time period:

Throughout the classical and romantic periods - the 17th and 18th centuries - nostalgia was viewed to be some kind of severe illness where doctors and medical professionals at the time tried finding unrealistic "cures" for the so-called "disease." Later, during the 1800's and into the early 1900's, nostalgia was seen as less of a disease but more of a mental illness, such as depression.

"What signs, moreover, proclaim the disease to be already present, are varied; especially continued sadness, meditation only of the Fatherland, disturbed sleep either wakeful or continuous, decrease of strength, hunger, thirst, senses diminished, and cares or even palpitations of the heart, frequent sighs, also stupidity of the mind..."

- (Hofer in his 1688 medical dissertation on nostalgia, qtd. in Anspach 1934, p. 386)

The Connection Between Music, Nostalgia, and the Brain

Through extensive studies and research, it is known for music to be a trigger of some sort for certain feelings and connections - which narrowed down - nostalgic type of music is a trigger for emotions such as empathy loneliness, melancholy, sadness, and bittersweetness.

This being said, when we listen to sad and nostalgic music, our emotional and psychological sensors in certain parts our brain activates, sending our minds and body signals to feel whatever feelings and emotions that are connected to the idea of nostalgia.

More modern definitions have come to surface from the mid 20th century into the 21st century:

"Nostalgia is a positive emotional experience that is characterized by memories that feature the self in social contexts."

- (Barrett and Janata, 2016 p. 234)

What We Know About Nostalgia Today

With today's studies and research and psychology, we now know about the many psychological benefits of "music-fueled" nostalgia.

For example,

• Creates a positive sense of meaning in life, a sense of order and significance

• Recognizes youthfulness

• Inspires optimism, social connectedness, and a sense of wellbeing

Listening to nostalgic music has also been taken up a form of self-care for some individuals. It has also been proven through studies with people who have Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and many other chronic neurological conditions that listening to music helps to engage the feeling of nostalgia and a sense of something meaningful to help return memories from one's past.

If you are anything like me, then you like to listen to sad music at any point of the day no matter what emotions you may be feeling. Now, you know that listening to such music actually may have many psychological benefits to you and to those around you.

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Sources Cited

MU4002 Critical Encounters with Popular Music and Dance, University of Limerick, Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, Week 6 Lecture: The Soundtrack of Our Lives: Music, Nostalgia, and the Brain, Morgan Senter, Ph.D.

Anspach, C. K. (1934). Medical Dissertation on Nostalgia by Johannes Hofer, 1688. Bulletin of the Institute of the History of Medicine, 2(6), 376–391. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44437799

Barrett, F.S. and Janata, P. (2016). Neural responses to nostalgia-evoking music by elements of dynamic musical structure and individual differences in affective traits. Neuropsychology, 91, 234-246.

Sedikides, C. et al. (2021). The psychological benefits of music-evoked nostalgia. Psychology of Music, 1-19.