Brain Waves and Bangers

How our brains associate emotions, colors, and memories with different songs

By Kylie Grebinar

How often do you hear a song and instantly think of a specific person, or a past moment, or feel an unexpected rush of emotion? Whether it's Beach House on a gloomy day or Empire of the Sun at a summer party, the music you listen to has the power to bring back memories and create new ones. The chances are, this probably happens to you. This is a phenomenon called synesthesia. 

Synthesia is a neurological effect where one sensory pathway leads to an automatic experience in another. There are many types, but the two most common in music are sound-to-memory and sound-to-color. Sound-to-memory synesthesia is exactly what it sounds like: when an individual hears a specific sound, like a song, it triggers an unavoidable connection to a certain memory. This is extremely common and can often happen without someone even realizing it. Less common is sound-to-color synesthesia, where listening to a song causes the brain to associate it with a specific color. 

Brain scans offer a real-time look at what happens inside your head when you hear a certain song. In one experiment, researchers found increased activity between the hippocampus and amygdala, which are the two main areas involved in memory processing. There was also evidence that the occipital lobe had an increase in activity, which is where visual processing occurs. Together, these areas create a unique experience for each listener—no two individuals will have the same experience, even when listening to the same song. 

In another study, participants listened to both “unpleasant” and “pleasant” music, and researchers found that regardless of the type of music, memory and emotion-processing areas were still activated. Brain scans revealed the connection between these regions that were active while listening to songs—when the occipital lobe lit up, so did the amygdala. 

Sound-to-color synesthesia varies in intensity. In the simplest sense, music might remind someone of a specific color—maybe when you hear an old song, you think of the color red because your mom was wearing a red sweater the first time she played the song for you. One of the rarest levels of sound-to-color synesthesia is when music and other sounds directly create color for the affected individual. This is the type that many well-known musicians today have, including Lorde and Pharell Williams. Other notable names with this characteristic include Charli XCX, Kanye West, Lady Gaga, and even older creatives, such as Billy Joel and Jimi Hendrix. When asked about having this quality, many creatives say it helps their success. Pharell Williams explains it as nerves that stick together, sending color images to the brain when hearing a certain musical note or sound. Almost all artists that are noted to have this condition say it's a blessing, and that their medium would not be the same without it.

The next time you are listening to your favorite song, try to take note of what memory or color you might be associating with it. This connection will probably come naturally—thanks to synesthesia. By understanding this phenomenon, we can better appreciate the way music makes us think and feel. Whether it evokes a gut-wrenchingly nostalgic memory or pure joy, synesthesia reminds us that music is not just noise—it’s a reflection of who we are and what we've experienced.