YOUR BRAIN ON MUSIC

BY KIM CARSON

I’ve always wondered how I can have such a strong, visceral reaction to a song from my youth when I hear it on the radio. Has that ever happened to you? Driving down Main Street hearing the first few notes and being magically transported back to a specific moment in time. Powerful enough to bring to the surface strong emotions. I’ve always thought it strange that tears involuntarily can come to my eyes upon hearing a few notes and THEN the memory tied to the song will come to mind. It’s completely unconscious. The memory doesn’t trigger the tears; the music triggers the tears, and the memory tied to that song follows.

For me, it’s usually something from the 70’s; I was 13 years old in love with the idea of love. I grew up in Detroit between 7 and 8 Mile (yeah, the one Eminem sings about). As a kid I just didn’t fit in—I was different. I wasn’t the most popular kid in school and socially it was always awkward for me. I was uncoordinated so you can only imagine what emotional reaction Dodge Ball would stir up in me. Music and radio were my escape, a magical world I could disappear into knowing I could count on my favorite DJs for companionship, and the music was there to soothe my soul. It was a constant.

MUSIC AND MEMORIES

One experience that comes to mind is this one: I recently heard the song Right Back To Where I Started From by Maxine Nightengale on the radio. Hearing the first few notes, teletransported me back to a hotel room in Knoxville,Tennessee, 16-years old, turning on the radio, unpacking my suitcase and feeling so excited, knowing that tomorrow will be my first day on the air reading the weather on WKVQ radio station. Facebook friend Debbie Ralph posted saying, “...at 67 it’s such a sweet mind trip for a bit. Our most primal areas of our brain react strongly to evocative sensory experiences. Heard Grand Funk outta the blue; (suddenly) I was that cute little hippy chick and 16 out carousing with my bestie and going to concerts at the LA Forum.”

How and why are music, emotions, and memories tied together? I asked ED ROTH, Professor of Music Therapy at the School of Music-WMU. Ed is also the director of the BRAIN (Brain Research and Interdisciplinary Neurosciences) laboratory. One of Roth’s most recent courses includes a neuroscience of music course titled “Your Brain on Music.” Roth says, firstly, memory is actually quite complicated. Memories are considered shortterm or long-term, conscious or unconscious, knowledge about events, general knowledge about the world, and knowledge about the order in which certain activities take place; when building a sandwich, I don’t start with mustard; first, I start with bread, then maybe meat, and so on. To answer the how part of your question, memories are built in context: combinations of sensory and emotional information. It’s generally thought that

Ed Roth, Professor of Music Therapy at the School of Music-WMU

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the more robust, emotional component of a memory, the more vivid, detailed, and powerful that memory will be over time.

What I wanted to know though is why it happens. Roth says, That likely has something to do with survival from our ancient ancestors. Your survival could depend on remembering the difference between something that brought you or a tribe member pleasure and something that caused pain, and emotion provides amplification to those memories to cause us to run toward pleasure and run away from pain.

Music’s role, of course, is primarily tied to its ability to induce emotion and by doing so, conjuring up memories tied to those emotions, both pleasurable and painful. Part of it has to do with perception and biology and part of our response to music is culturally derived. You can play the same song at two significantly different tempi and people would have different physical and emotional responses to it. That’s what I mean by perceptual and biological.

However, the other aspect likely has to do with our associations between the music, our memories, and our identities. Think about how many melodies and lyrics you have memorized at some level – it’s remarkable! That has both something to do with the musical structure of a piece of music and the context in which that song became meaningful to us; think weddings, funerals, breakups, the birth of a child, etc.

Ed added, music therapists are currently using music to help people who have age-related disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and strokes recover the ability to walk again, talk again, deal with memory degradation and importantly, the emotional recovery that is also necessary when someone is having one of these experiences. One of the most compelling arguments for music as we age is its ability to make us feel connected to other people. Loneliness is not just a down feeling one might have from time to time. Still, it can lead to significant declines in health as people further isolate themselves which causes them to feel even lonelier, and the cycle continues. Simply listening to music can be the first step to combat loneliness; listening to it with our people allows us to share our emotions and memories brought up by the music. Those experiences can further lead to us taking better care of ourselves and enjoying our lives.

Wise words, Ed. Let the music play!

Kim Carson

Kim is an Author/Podcast/TV/ Internet personality. Watch and listen for her on WGVU TV’s Kalamazoo Lively Arts and J. Schwanke’s Life In Bloom. Learn more at kimcarson.online and fb.com/kimcarson

COMBO MEAL QUEKA HARINA AUTHENTIC TACOS

826 E Cork St, Kalamazoo | HOURS: Mon – Thu: 11 AM-8 PM | Fri – Sat: 11 AM-9 PM

There are so many wonderful authentic Mexican restaurants in our area that I have not tried before, so I thought that now was as good of time as any to make my way through them and find my favorite. I started with QUEKAS AUTHENTIC MEXICAN FOOD in Kalamazoo.

Because COVID-19 numbers are still high, I decided not to dine in. Lucky for me, Quekas makes ordering super easy! You can call ahead or do what I did and order right from their website. I was able to look through it, see pictures and descriptions of their food, and pay ahead as well. They offer delivery within four miles of the restaurant, but I thought it would be a good opportunity to see their building, so I opted for pick up. Quekas sits on Cork Street and is a small but vibrant building. I would categorize the interior as casual, fun, and very clean. I was excited when I got home and opened everything up! I tend to order a lot of food when I visit a new place to try many of their items. I started with the COMBO MEAL, which had a tostada with chicken, two flautas filled with potato and rice and beans. The flautas were crispy, flavorful, and quite large for flautas. The tostada was a good size as well. I was in love with the flavor of the shredded chicken on top. Next, I tried the QUEKA HARINA, which is essentially a flour tortilla quesadilla. I opted for the spicy chicken for my protein. This was one of my favorite items! There was a healthy amount of the spicy chicken, which was incredibly flavorful and not so spicy that it was uncomfortable. (I tend to be a wimp when it comes to too much heat.) The special of the day was $1 TACOS, so I also got two tacos to try. I got the slow-roasted shredded pork and the beef. Both tacos came topped with cilantro and onions and were in corn tortillas. These were absolutely delicious! The pork was my favorite! The unique blend of spices and just a hint of citrus made it all pull together magically. Lastly, I ordered a side of CHIPS AND SALSA. Quekas offers a small, medium or large-size chips and salsa; I orddered the medium and was shocked to see that a medium is about a 16oz cup! I’m definitely not complaining about too much salsa…it was delicious! I only had a few bites but had plenty left over to snack on throughout the rest of the week. The chips weren’t anything special, but I loved the salsa—just enough kick to it for me. I would definitely have Quekas Authentic Mexican again. Their food tasted fresh, authentic and incredibly flavorful! The ordering process was simple, as was the pick-up process. If you’re looking for some excellent Mexican cuisine to celebrate Cinco de Mayo I would recommend getting some awesome Quekas Tacos!

Elizabeth Precopio

Elizabeth Precopio is a hairstylist by day and 24/7 food enthusiast. She visits restaurants in the Kalamazoo area and blogs about her experience at feedmekzoo.com