Memories Are Made of This

A had a bout of nostalgia today, triggered by the sight of an old street lamp, and wanted to share my thoughts with those who actually read my blog. Do you remember Dean Martin singing the song which titles this post? Give a listen.

Nostalgia

(noun) a wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in one's life, to one's home or homeland, or to one's family and friends; a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time.

From the Greek, loosely, homesickness.

Nostalgia is a phenomenon of the not-so-young. Let's face it, you never hear kids talking about the "good old days." They are actually living their good old days right now.

The "good old days" is amusingly defined by thefreedictionary.com as "an earlier time which everyone remembers as a better time, even if it really wasn't."

  

This one picture, the street lamp, brought back comforting images of how simple life was in the 50's. You've read all the posts on Facebook, or received some drivel in email about how we lived through those days (wonderful us!) without computers, cell phones and bicycle helmets, so you know what I mean. But, there was also some sadness associated with the remembering. Homesickness? Does nostalgia make you sad?

In an attempt to recapture what we remember as the best parts of our past, we have reunions, high school, family, football team reunions. Great fun to reminisce with those who know just what we're talking about. Instant connection. There's music, food and photographs: all the important elements to trigger nostalgia.

A schoolmate of mine periodically post pictures of my "hometown" and surroundings on a Facebook page. They always bring a smile to my face, and I love reading the comments they arouse. But why? To answer that question requires a little research. But don't worry, I've done that for you. Now let's take a stroll down memory lane. Literally.

During my college years, while a psychology major, I did some research on the brain and memory. Click here for an in depth article on memory recall. A fascinating read. But let's stick with how smells and sounds can trigger memory.

In fact research has discovered that "listening to music activates wide networks in the brain, including areas responsible for motor actions, emotions, and creativity."

Perhaps that's why couples choose a song to dance to on their wedding day, so that hearing the song later in life will bring with it the warm feelings they had on that day. Or why my friends and I got all teary watching the recent tribute to the Bee Gees. But, I digress.

When you smell something wonderful cooking, do you close your eyes and deeply inhale, perhaps remembering Grandma's house?

Our sense of smell is supposedly the most primal of our six senses. According to a Psychology Today article, childhood memories linked to scent stay with us throughout life. This is the so-called “Proustian Memory Effect." So named for the author's detailed description of an incident in one of his stories.

According to another Psychology Today article, "Smells Ring Bells," the olfactory bulb (nerves involved in smelling) has direct connections to two brain areas strongly linked to emotion and memory. Since visual, sound, and touch information do not pass through these brain areas, that may be why the sense of smell, "more than any other sense, is so successful at triggering emotions and memories."

The nose knows. Just ask your dog. He's got 811 olfactory receptor genes. Not as many as the African elephant, but easier to walk on a leash.

The third item in our trifecta is visual images. The photo album: suggested tool in assisting Alzheimer's patients remember their lives. Our connection to photos can trigger further memories. Apparently reviewing the photographs and rehearsing what was occurring at the time it was taken will deepen the memory. A picture also can trigger a buried memory and recall a precise moment in time much more rapidly than words.

Why do pictures trigger such strong memory responses? A neuroscientist in his short article, says it's because our brains are so efficient at storing the ‘essence’ of a picture, capturing not just the subject but specific visual qualities." Another study suggests that certain colors (red, orange, yellow) form stronger memories than others. 

Does that mean your black & white photos won't be as effective in stimulating your memory? Perhaps. But it seems more likely that the emotions attached to the photo, as well as how often a person has reminisced over it are more influential.

So get nostalgic over your old photos with the kids and grand kids. Describe the events depicted, who was there, how you felt. They may only be amused for a moment, but this activity will also be good for us grandmas and grandpas. Hopefully we'll ALL remember the stories of our lives.