The brain and connections...

So this one is probably going to be a little random...but what the hay, its my blog, and I'll do what I want with it.

So I was driving home from Meridian today (I spend a good portion of my life in my car at this point), and I was listening to an audiobook (Made To Stick at the moment which is FANTASTIC and I highly recommend to all would-be teachers) and had wanted to re-listen to a bit that I had listened to earlier in the day because it was particularly interesting.

Anyhow, as I hit a particular segment of audio, something triggered in my brain and I could recall precisely where I was driving, the last time I had listened to it. I could remember distinctly the odd subdivision entrance I had been passing, the dull gray clouds gridlocking the skies, and the leisurely speed at which I was cruising along at. The memory didnt last long, but for all it lacked in duration, it made up for in vividness.

I got to thinking about this for a little bit, because this is not a new occurrence to me, especially since I had really gotten into audiobooks. The brain seems to have a STRONG connection between auditory memory and spacial orientation.

My mind flashes back to the concept of "songlines" which I came across while doing some research for a lesson on rites of passage at Vallivue. In an Australian aboriginal walkabout, the young man would use a song which included many references to location and direction to guide him down the same paths his ancestors walked.

By singing the songs in the appropriate sequence, Indigenous people could navigate vast distances, often travelling through the deserts of Australia's interior. The continent of Australia contains an extensive system of songlines, some of which are of a few kilometres, whilst others traverse hundreds of kilometres through lands of many different Indigenous peoples — peoples who may speak markedly different languages and champion significantly different cultural traditions.

This idea was very interesting to me for a number of reasons (as I have often thought about the trance like state that is induced during running and the connection music does have/has had in the past to a runner), but it also shows the brains connection between auditory stimulus and spacial orientation.

While I was thinking about this idea in my car I decided to try a little experiment. I wanted to see if my brain could hold on to the second location in the same way as it did the first one (in other words I wanted to see that if I listened to the passage a 3rd time I could see vividly both locations, both contexts in my mind). I noted two things, and although this was in no way a scientific experiment, I feel pretty confident something in them is true.

1. When trying to commit the 2nd location to memory, I felt a lot of resistance. While the first correlation happened naturally and without any additional effort, the second attempt found me having to think hard about the colors, the object, the atmosphere I was observing.

2. When I attempted to stuff in the 2nd memory, I could feel the 1st one diminishing in its original vividness. When I tried to recall the images later, I did not have the same connection to it as I had had before my little experiment.

The second point there is backed up in my own mind by the example of music. I noted long ago that "special" songs always became less special the more times and the more contexts you listened to them in. The song that reminded me of that awkward first kiss seems to pack less of a punch when you hear it for the 300th time two years later. I actually avoid listening to my "favorite" albums and songs (as well as try not to re-watch some of my favorite films) out of fear of losing a valued memory/connection that I have with the work.

Again not very scientific, but very interesting I think...