The Neuroscience of Nostalgia: What Happens When We Look Back
By Iman V.
Photo by Laris Larsswa on Unsplash.
As you drive home from a long day at work, the radio starts playing another song from its regular list. Perhaps thousands of people are listening to the same notes, but you may be among the handful who feel the song more deeply. You recognize it from many years ago, taking you back into a memory, like your graduation ceremony, where that very same song was playing. Or perhaps it’s the smell of a familiar dish that reminds you of your childhood home. There are times when the most ordinary and everyday experiences evoke a powerful feeling by giving us a glimpse into the past: nostalgia.
Definition of Nostalgia
Nostalgia comes from its Greek roots nóstos (meaning “homecoming”), and álgos (meaning “pain”), together pointing at the bittersweet longing of the past. Interestingly, nostalgia used to be considered a medical condition! The term was coined by a 17th century Swiss physician named Johannes Hofer, who used it to describe the intense homesickness experienced by those who were separated from their homes for long periods of time, like Swiss mercenaries serving abroad. Our definitions of nostalgia have changed since, but one feature is consistent: it is an incredibly powerful emotional experience. But how can something as simple as a smell cause this response? The answer (or at least part of it) lies within our brains.
Nostalgia on the Brain
It may be tempting to think that there is a single “nostalgia center” in the brain, but in reality, nostalgia appears to result from the coordinated activity of neural circuits involved in four core processes:
Memory is perhaps the most intuitive place to start. We have different types of memories, but nostalgia has to do with what is known as autobiographical memory, which is our ability to remember events from our own lives. One part of the brain that’s particularly involved in this process is the hippocampus: a small, seahorse-shaped structure deep within each side of the brain that helps us remember the memories of our pasts. But that’s also what happens when you decide to remember what you had for dinner last night, which probably does not make you feel nostalgic. With nostalgia, memory is only a part of the story.
The process that makes the memory of your graduation different from what you had for dinner last night is another feature of nostalgia: self-reflection. Self-reflection refers to our capability to connect our past experiences to our identity. For example, when you hear that song from your graduation ceremony, you are reminded of the kind of person you were at that time, and how you have changed since. There are two regions in the brain that are known to be important in creating this process: the medial prefrontal cortex, and the posterior cingulate cortex.
The emotional weight of nostalgia is another important aspect that makes it different than typical autobiographical memory. When you consider how you feel when you’re nostalgic, it probably involves a bit of both positive and negative emotions. You may feel happy remembering your graduation, but you might also feel a little sad because that period of your life has ended. Despite being bittersweet, nostalgia tends to be more positive than negative, and this may have to do with emotional regulation. For example, nostalgia is thought to help us counter negative emotions such as loneliness by bringing back positive experiences. Another way nostalgia may regulate our emotions is through hanging our emotional response to an experience by reinterpreting it in a more positive way. For example, while your graduation may have felt stressful at that time, now you may remember it as a happy and exciting milestone. Therefore, brain regions that are involved in emotional regulation, are thought to be involved in the complex circuitry of nostalgia.
Finally, the sense of reward is another part of this complicated experience. Research suggests that nostalgia involves regions in the brain that are associated with processing rewarding experiences. For example, an imaging study found that these brain regions show greater activity when looking at nostalgic pictures. It is thought that this aspect may also motivate us to pursue our goals and seek rewarding experiences.
The next time an old song plays on the radio, remember that it’s not the activity of just one region of your brain that’s giving you a look in the past, but the coordinated activity of numerous brain circuits and processes. They help us retrieve memories, connect them to our own identity, regulate our emotions, and make us feel good when we look back. So, nostalgia is far more than just remembering the past: it is a powerful way of shaping our present.
Want to put this science into practice? The BC Brain Wellness Program's Intergenerational Storytelling Project and Intergenerational Letter Writing Project offer a chance to activate your own nostalgic thinking; connecting memory, identity, and emotion in real, hands-on ways. Learn more here: https://www.bcbrainwellness.ca/education/intergenerational-projects
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