the science of nostalgia
i get really psyched on the phenomenon that is nostalgia. i like reading about it, talking about it and making work about it. i find the ways in which scent and sound act as triggers for nostalgia in the brain totally fascinating. turns out eric’s focus of study as a scientist is the evolution of the brain. i just hit the jackpot in late night bar conversation. the one aspect of nostalgia that i have not explored is it’s evolutionary purpose. so exciting!
from what i understand so far… the brain is able to hold on to a memory longer and able to recall those memories easily using triggers (scent and sound) whena n emotional response is tied to that memory. so if you think about this in terms of survival [gathering food, finding your way home, etc.] it’s easy to see why the brain would need to recall memories using those triggers. RADICAL!
i hope by the end of this trip i will have new directions and ideas for my work and won’t have asked eric too many questions. i’m already having so much fun thinking about how the evolutionary side of nostalgia plages as us a modern society that relies on technology to find the nearest place to get food and directions from anywhere to anywhere. what is it an indicator of now? is it still useful or just a disease?
