“When I ask my students what are songs you could teach without referencing any ? The answer is often a Christmas song.” “You learn it as a child, and it’s one of the few bodies of songs that people have deep inside their memories,” says Gentry. This also explains why, as Freeman points out, it’s important that the listener has control over how and when they hear Christmas music. This is probably why I feel like I need to protect myself against Christmas music because it could go either way: my brain could take me to one of the buoyant Christmases, or to that very terrible one and the lonely ones that followed. But Christmases up until then were always hysterically happy times. My twin brother died when we were nine years old, exactly one week before Christmas day. That becomes a part of our memory.”Ĭertainly this is the case for me. Why? “Because our prefrontal cortex is less developed when we are children, so we are more emotional beings when we are little. Certainly, we may become sad if we dealt with a difficult time while hearing Christmas music as an adult, but it’s probably more intense for us if we experienced that hardship as kids hearing the music. For that population, Christmas songs can be very painful to hear.”įreeman’s point about childhood is key. “The reward system can also be associated with pain. “Some people had abusive childhoods, or they experienced a loss of some kind or a person someone passed away,” says Freeman, adding that music in general impacts the amygdala, which unlocks our emotions and reactions to stressors. When the brain makes these associations with something very positive and pleasurable, the rewards system is being activated a number of chemicals including dopamine.” “Many of us associate this music with childhood and a happy time of presents and traditions and all the specialness that happens around that time of year. Rhonda Freeman, a clinical neuropsychologist. “Our response to Christmas songs depends on the association,” says Dr. What Happens When We Hear Christmas Music And there’s extensive neuropsychological reasoning as to why these carols have such a profound effect on us. Psychologists have found that playing Christmas music too early in the year can wreak havoc on one’s mental health (particularly if they’re constantly exposed to it, as those in certain retail environments may be). I’m hardly alone in my vulnerability to these thunderous tunes where snowmen talk and reindeer fly. I’ve been keeping my earbuds in when I go to the supermarket to avoid the wave of holiday cheer that is surely blaring from the omnipresent speakers. It’s the most wonderful time of the year, or the worst depending, in part, on whether you’re a fan of Christmas songs.
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