Memories are created by all five senses – sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste – but the memories most solidly in the brain are those created by music. These memories are called “flashbulb” memories; they come back so intensely you can still discover details you hadn’t noticed before.
The area of the brain engaged when listening to music is the same as the region responsible for memory. As a result, listening to music can trigger memories thought lost, both pertaining to the music and to activities where music was in the background.
It’s called Echoic Memory.
Echoic Memory is short term but how often you experience a sound tells your brain how important it is and whether to store it long term memory. Listening to a favourite song over and over, creates some strong memory paths.
The functionality of Echoic Memory can sometimes be lost. That loss of functionality can tamper with memories. Medical conditions like stroke, brain damage, dementia and hearing loss can each contribute to loss of Echoic Memory function.
Numerous studies demonstrate the value of music to improving lives in general but particularly with dementia patients. Music memories stay accessible even after speech and language memories have deteriorated in dementia patients.
When the sound of music changes
While music can reduce anxiety, blood pressure and even pain, along with improving mood, when the listener has hearing loss, the music becomes muddled. Often the high frequency notes – from piano, flute, violin and the human voice – are missing in what is being heard.
That muddled music and flat, unaccented sound can cause frustration, aversion and turn away people who previously enjoyed music. Rather than music delivering improved mood or reduced anxiety, the effect of hearing loss works in the opposite direction.
“Often the first sounds to go in hearing loss are the high frequency ones,” explained John Tiede, Co-CEO of Hear Well Be Well and a Hearing Instrument Specialist for 40 years. “The hair cells that stimulate the nerves responsible for sending sound to the brain for interpretation live in the cochlea. Those hair cells responsible for sending the high frequency sounds to the brain are near the opening of the cochlea and are the first to get hit with sound waves. So they’re the first ones to get damaged.”
In addition to not enjoying music anymore, the brain is no longer getting the signals saying it is the same music so the memories are not stimulated. As the part of the brain that processes music and memories stops being used, it starts to shrink. Some research has suggested this creates a greater risk of developing dementia.
The contest
To honour and bring attention to the importance of music for creating strong memories, Hear Well Be Well and Signia are sponsoring a contest that includes prizes with a combined value of over $8,000 along with free playlists from family members of different ages and music choices.
“It’s important to us to educate people that hearing loss affects more than just your conversations or your enjoyment of watching TV,” explained Kathleen Tiede, co-CEO of Hear Well Be Well. “There’s so much more impact on a person’s life when they have hearing loss, no matter how minor the loss may be. People go for regular checkups with their dentist and their eye doctor; they should add getting their hearing checked to that list too.”
More information about the contest is available at https://hearwellbewell.ca/contest/
About Hear Well Be Well
Hear Well Be Well has been helping people with their hearing health for 40 years. Independent, family-run hearing aid clinics, Hear Well Be Well has highly trained hearing instrument specialists, a unique testing process proven over time and a strong philosophy of compassion that guides the company. Hear Well Be Well has 13 locations in Ontario serving mid-size, small and rural communities.