Why Do We Remember Old Pop Songs But Forget Where Our Keys Are?

I’ve been posting quite a few things in the last few days about music and the human brain.  If you have any interest in this subject whatsoever then you’ll certainly enjoy this video.  Daniel Levitin, Neuroscientist and musician, gives some great example of how music is so absolutely important in our lives.  The function of music in relationship to the brain continues to astound the world’s most intelligent scientists.

In the video Dr. Levitin says there are many instances where those suffering from alzheimer’s can’t even remember their own name but if you play songs that they knew when they were younger that the memory responds rapidly.  People tend to perk up and become more joyful.  When he said that it made me think of how many business that I’ll always remember because they had a catchy little jingle going on the radio.  Recently I saw a paper advertisement for a company called Father and Son Construction.  Father and Son Construction had a catchy song and TV commercial that instantly starts playing in my had every time I see their ad.  Some old commercials I wish I could remove from my head but they just won’t go away!  You can unsubscribe to someone’s blog or email newsletters but once a business get’s you to sing their tune then they pretty much have you sold for life.

Here is a brief excerpt from Wikipedia’s page on Dr. Daniel Levitin:

Born in San Francisco, California the son of Lloyd Levitin, a businessman and professor, and Sonia Levitin, a novelist, Levitin was raised in Daly City, Moraga and Palos Verdes, California.^[11] He studied electrical engineering at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology, and music at the Berklee College of Music before dropping out of college to join a succession of bands. He returned to school in his thirties, studying cognitive psychology/cognitive sciencefirst at Stanford University (he received his B.A. in 1992 with honors and highest university distinction) and then the University of Oregon where he received his M.Sc. (1993) and Ph.D. (1996). He completed post-doctoral fellowships at Paul Allen’s Silicon Valley think-tank Interval Research, at the Stanford University Medical School, and at the University of California, Berkeley.^[11] His scientific mentors included Roger Shepard, Michael Posner, Douglas Hintzman, John R. Pierce and Stephen Palmer. He has been a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University, Dartmouth College and Oregon Health Sciences University.

posted by Grosse Pointe Music Academy Staff

Grosse Pointe Music Academy has locations in the Plymouth Canton area of Metro Detroit and on the Eastside of Detroit in Grosse Pointe.  We offer lessons in music for all ages and levels.