Want a walk down memory lane? Try this. Put on a song you were listening to when you were aged 14, or 19, or 24. Close your eyes and think about what you were doing at the time. Pretty vivid, right?
Well, perhaps if you’re over 40.
Love Is All Around by British band Wet Wet Wet was a hit 30 years ago.Credit: Alamy
If it worked, then you’re deep in your “reminiscence bump”. This is a psychology theory that adults over 40 have an enhanced recollection of events that happened during adolescence and early adulthood.
It’s a period of emotional intensity when most people experience independence for the first time. A number of life choices and changes are occurring at rapid pace. It’s a time of firsts, which creates strong memories than can be easily recalled later in life.
Music can form a big part of the reminiscence bump. Research has found that when older adults are asked to choose their favourite songs it’s likely to be something they were listening to in this period. In studies, people with dementia are better able to recall music from their “bump”.
This is partly because music is intimately linked to identity, places, people or times and is particularly associated with positive emotional memories or social life events. That’s why most older adults know more about music from their youth than current pop songs.
“That will never last”: Friends first went to air in 1994.Credit: Warner Bros
It is for this reason that I, a 46-year-old woman, stumbled on a series of hits that will turn 30 this year while researching an article on 1994. From grunge to RnB, hip-hop and Oz-rock, the bangers just kept coming, each with their own associated memory from my formative years.
Don’t believe me? Finish the sentence: I feel it in my fingers…. If you said, “I feel it in my toes”, then you’re probably at least as old as me.
I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes … it’s my first reminiscence bump
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09.01.2024
Want a walk down memory lane? Try this. Put on a song you were listening to when you were aged 14, or 19, or 24. Close your eyes and think about what you were doing at the time. Pretty vivid, right?
Well, perhaps if you’re over 40.
Love Is All Around by British band Wet Wet Wet was a hit 30 years ago.Credit: Alamy
If it worked, then you’re deep in your “reminiscence bump”. This is a psychology theory that adults over 40 have an enhanced recollection........
© The Sydney Morning Herald
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