Ongoing History Daily: Why can you remember every word of a song from 25 years ago?
I know this has happened to you. You’re driving when an old song comes on the radio, a track you haven’t heard for years. Yet miraculously, you’re able to sing along with every word. But just that morning, you couldn’t remember where you left your car keys. How is this possible?
It’s because music is stored in our long-term memory, which is distributed throughout the brain, and not just in one place. When we hear music, all these systems are triggered at once, embedding the memory of the song everywhere. And when we hear that song again, all these parts of the brain are triggered, resulting in very strong recall.
This is different than the short-term memory we use for everyday tasks, like putting the car keys somewhere you can find them. Once again, the brain seems to come pre-wired for music.
