Have you ever heard a song that instantly brings back memories? Maybe it's the tune you played before going out with friends or the one that reminds you of a fun road trip. We usually think of these memories as clear and unchangeable. But recent research shows that music doesn't just bring memories back, it could even change the way we remember them.

When you hear a song, it’s not only your ears that respond. Your brain’s emotional and memory centres, like the hippocampus (responsible for memories) and the amygdala (which processes emotions), get activated too. This is why some songs seem to bring back memories or emotions so vividly, linking them to specific moments in your life.

We know that music can trigger emotions and bring back memories, but what if it could change how we remember things? This idea is called memory reactivation, which says that when we recall a memory, it becomes flexible for a moment, allowing new feelings or details to mix into the original memory.

Can music change how we remember? Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder, including Yiren Ren, Thackery Brown, Sophia Mehdizadeh, and Grace Leslie, found that music can indeed reshape memories. When participants listened to emotional music while recalling neutral stories, they later remembered the stories with emotions that matched the music.

Brain scans showed that music activates the parts of the brain responsible for emotions and memory. The study found that music can change the way we feel about our memories by adding emotional tones. This shows that memories are flexible and can be influenced by things like music while we remember them.

This study could be really helpful for people dealing with depression or PTSD, where negative memories are strong. The right kind of music could help shift these memories to a more positive place, lessening their emotional impact over time. This could lead to using music as a tool for mental health treatments. In everyday life, it shows how the music you listen to can change how you remember things in the future. So, when you play your favourite tunes, remember, that it's not just your mood you're affecting, you're also shaping your future memories.