Science Explains Why & How Music Brings Back Memories

Why the Connection

Music has proven to be a powerful emotional memory cue over the course of human history. When you hear a particular song you haven’t heard in years, it is guaranteed to bring about all the associated memories and emotions. It won’t be like you remember them, but rather reliving them as it takes you back to that very moment in time. This process through which music makes people re-experience memories, events, places, and people is called ‘music-evoked autobiographical memory.’ While the name is almost unknown, the experience in itself is very common.

Why the Connection

Why the Connection

Music is generally associated with specific life events like weddings, graduations, funerals, etc., because of which it automatically plays the role of reconnecting us with them. Music also affects our physical and mental selves in ways that sometimes even the person experiencing it might not be able to point out. By drawing our attention, music sets itself up in connection with a significant event of our lives in our brains. This is so effective that it is able to have a recollecting effect even years and decades later. The familiarity of a particular piece of music along with the situation in which it was listened to, also plays a part in how and how well the memory can be recollected. Studies have also shown that the emotionality of a particular clip of music also has a relation with how effective it is as a memory cue.

An Experiment on Music

Through a group experiment, musical emotional cues were juxtaposed over other emotional cues that had similar or the same reactions or effects, including ‘emotional sounds’ and ‘emotional words.’ The results of this comparison showed that music proved to be a positive memory cue even if the mood of the music was negative. In such cases, the memories recollected were more positive than expected, which leads us to believe that music can effectively be used therapeutically.

English Woman Turns Old Sofas Into Chic Leather Handbags to Cut Down on Waste

Have you ever thought of carrying a chic handbag that actually comes from a sofa? Sounds crazy, right? But one Englishwoman has made this seemingly bizarre concept a reality by turning old sofas into chic leather handbags. To save the old leather from the landfill, Lisa Crick upcycles all the good parts of old sofas and couches into beautiful totes, handbags, luggage, and messenger bags, within just a week.

The Designer

Lisa Crick’s works have highly impressed customers and now they all donate their old sofas and couches for free to get customized leather handbags. Keeping recycling as her top priority, Crick tries her best to use all parts of the old furniture. She even gives away cushion stuffing free of cost for people to use as dog beds. The 53-year-old has aptly and cleverly named her business New Beginnings. While talking to the media, Cricks said that she has been conscious of the amount of waste we make each year, and that has led her to become passionate about waste management and recycling. Seeing people carrying the handbags she made always gives her a sense of accomplishment and pride.

The Journey

It all started in 2018 when Lisa Crick tried her hand at bag sewing. Her husband Dave asked what she was planning to do with the old curtains, which they had just replaced. As Cricks recalled, she just said that she would try to make luggage using them. She never thought “in a million years” that she would be here today, selling her bags and being loved by customers. Her handmade totes are for sale on a website and also in a pop-up store located in Dilton Marsh, Wiltshire, England. According to Cricks, the sofa handbags fly off the shelves more quickly than the rest.