I would assume that all of us have a “my song” that can hyper your entire day when you hear the song; I also think that I am not the only one who has some emotional connection with a certain song that can make a person cry like a baby or laugh without brain. I know it would be a beautiful day when I smell the soil in the air after raining; I think we all remember deep in our brain how the sunshine smell on the beach when we are having fun.
BUT WHY?
Sights, sounds and smells can all evoke emotionally charged memories. A new study in rats suggests why: The same part of the brain
that's in charge of processing our senses is also responsible, at least in part, for storing emotional memories.
that's in charge of processing our senses is also responsible, at least in part, for storing emotional memories.
For instance, the smell of turkey could conjure up a smile as it reminds you of a joyful Thanksgiving, while the sound
of a drill could make you start in fear, since it may be linked to your last dental appointment.
of a drill could make you start in fear, since it may be linked to your last dental appointment.
Previously, scientists had not considered these sensory brain regions all that important for housing emotional memories, said study researcher Benedetto Sacchetti, of the National Institute of Neuroscience in Turin, Italy.
While the new findings are preliminary, they suggest these sensory brain regions might play a role in certain fear and anxiety disorders, Sacchetti said. For instance, dysfunction in these areas might make it hard for someone to differentiate between sights, sounds
and other stimuli that they should and should not be afraid of, resulting in generalized fear and anxiety.
and other stimuli that they should and should not be afraid of, resulting in generalized fear and anxiety.
The researchers have done the experiment on rats to accord their reaction to events and how the rats memorize them. The reactions suggest that human have the similar reaction as rats which memorizing certain stimulation significantly such as images, music, and smells.
Emotional memories
Rats startle when they first hear a sound, regardless of whether it's linked to a scary event. But eventually, in a process called habituation, they grow accustomed to it. The team wanted to find out if these sensory memories that didn't involve fear were still stored in the secondary cortices. So they habituated the rats to a sound with no electric shock. One month later, lesions were made on the rats' secondary cortices for all senses. The lesioned rats still didn't startle upon hearing the sound, suggesting the secondary cortices only store memories if the stimulus is tied to an emotion. These sensory memories must be stored in another brain region, the researchers figure.
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