This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession

by Daniel J. Levitin

Memory strength is also a function of how much we care about the experience. Neurochemical tags associated with memories mark them for importance, and we tend to code as important things that carry with them a lot of emotion, either positive or negative. I tell my students if they want to do well on a test, they have to really care about the material as they study it. Caring may, in part, account for some of the early differences we see in how quickly people acquire new skills. If I really like a particular piece of music, I’m going to want to practice it more, and because I care about it, I’m going to attach neurochemical tags to each aspect of the memory that label it as important: The sounds of the piece, the way I move my fingers, if I’m playing a wind instrument the way that I breathe—all these become part of a memory trace that I’ve encoded as important. Similarly, if I’m playing an instrument I like, and whose sound pleases me in and of itself, I’m more likely to pay attention to subtle differences in tone, and the ways in which I can moderate and affect the tonal output of my instrument. It is impossible to overestimate the importance of these factors; caring leads to attention, and together they lead to measurable neurochemical changes. Dopamine, the neurotransmitter associated with emotional regulation, alertness, and mood, is released, and the dopaminergic system aids in the encoding of the memory trace.