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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   3617 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for September 10, 2023

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

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I recently read a comment on reddit:

There is a phenomenon called mood-dependent memory that everyone experiences. It's the facilitation of accessing memories when your mood at retrieval is the same as your mood was at encoding. I'm sure you have had different memories flood in when you are in heightened states of mood before. When you get angry, you have memories pop up from other times you are angry. When you are happy, you have memories come in from other times you were happy. The reason for that is that when you form memories, your brain is not only encoding the basal level visual and auditory data. It's also encoding the emotional data in other brain regions, like the insula, insular cortex, and amygdala. When memories are stored, these neuronal connections are a formed that connect these brain regions.

I also heard someone say something along the lines of:

When I’m high I listen to music. When I’m sober listening to that same music it can put me in a better mood than usual.

In the first quote a mood is helping retrieve memories encoded with the same mood. In the second quote the music is helping retrieve the mood of a different instance of listening to the same music.

Where can I read more about the concrete details behind this phenomenon?

Is there a way to reliably trigger recall of a specific memory that matches your current mood?

Could you use psychoactive mood boosting substances to generate positive memories where music is playing in the background then use that same music to retrieve the enhanced mood when sober?

Could you use psychoactive mood boosting substances to generate positive memories where music is playing in the background then use that same music to retrieve the enhanced mood when sober?

If you consistently listen to a certain album while on LSD, you can fairly reliably trigger flashbacks by playing it later on when sober (though the effect diminishes and needs "recharging" over time if it becomes too associated with being sober yet wanting to be on acid).

That's very interesting, and I suspect this effect is strongest with psychedelics. I was able to achieve this effect to a lesser extent with an anti-anxiety drug. Listening to the song can bring me closer to the anti-anxiety effect than I can normally reach sober.

2 other interesting observations I had about this effect:

  • Just thinking about the song can sometimes cause me to recall the anti-anxiety mood without needing to actually listen to the song.
  • One time I was able to imbue a song with a powerful realization when listening to that song on an anti-anxiety drug. Now every time I hear the song I also recall the realization:

The song was about deciding what paths in life to take and I happened to recall the HPMOR quote when listening to it:

You couldn't leave your home planet while it still contained a place like Azkaban.

You had to stay and fight.

Now the song and that quote are linked in my memory. It motivates me to fight against the salient injustices in today's world.

I had a math professor who advised us to study in a similar mood as we would be in during the exam. He joked that maybe we should be crying while we study.

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