The Soundtrack to Forever: Why a Few Notes Can Unlock a Lifetime of Memory

The music we connect with during adolescence—the so-called "reminiscence bump"—holds a particularly potent key to our personal past. This is the period when we are most actively forming our identity and building social connections, and the music from this era, like Nirvana’s raw energy in “Come As You Are” or the angsty pop-punk of Avril Lavigne's "Complicated," is deeply embedded. It is the music of self-discovery, forever associated with the high-stakes emotions and the people who helped shape our sense of self.