Why we remember songs from sixty years ago but forget breakfast

Many families have seen it. A parent who struggles to follow a conversation suddenly sings every word of a song from 1962. A grandmother who rarely speaks taps her foot and smiles when the old dance music comes on.

How can someone remember songs from sixty years ago but forget what they had for breakfast?

Music and memory are deeply connected

Music and autobiographical memory share remarkable connections. Neuroscientist Petr Janata found that music linked to personal memories activates an area at the front of the brain that helps connect music, emotion and our sense of self. Later research suggested that the brain areas where long-known music is stored tend to be less affected in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease than many other areas.

That helps explain what Oliver Sacks described so movingly in Musicophilia: even when other memories become difficult to reach, familiar music can bring back emotions, conversations and memories from earlier life. Alzheimer's Society describes music as one of the most powerful ways to connect with someone living with dementia.

Sometimes one song opens the door to an entire chapter of someone's story. The song from the wedding. The record that was always on in the kitchen. The hymn from school assembly.

That's the power of emotional memory.

In care: great carers are naturally curious

They notice photographs. Wedding rings. Football scarves. Old books. Travel souvenirs. A record collection on the shelf.

Every object is a conversation waiting to happen. "Who's this in the photo?" "Where did you get this?" "What was the first concert you went to?"

Music works the same way. Play a song from someone's teenage years, then ask where they were when they first heard it. Curiosity turns everyday care into meaningful care.

At home: ask about the oldest photograph

Ask your parents to show you their oldest photograph.

Don't ask who's in it. Ask: "Tell me everything that happened that day."

The photograph is only the beginning. The story is what you'll treasure. And if a song comes to mind while they're talking, play it. You might hear a whole new chapter.

A reflection

What song instantly takes you back to your childhood?

At lembray, we believe every life deserves to be known before it is remembered, and that sometimes the way into a story is a song.