visual/aural memory

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When I hear a certain song, I have a brief snapshot visual memory of a door in a convenience store. When I think about Renoir, I see a barn on a back country road. I know the association. The song was playing in the store while I was pushing the door to leave and my mother and I were driving and were talking about Renoir right as we passed the barn. These two of many examples have been imprinted in my memory for years and years. I can't think of anything about the circumstances that would imprint the memory so strongly at exactly that moment. Also, when I say "see" I mean in my mind's eye- not a close my eyes and see it like a picture image. Does anybody else have visual memory like this? I'm just curious about stuff like this.
While I'm at it another thing I'm curious about; when a song plays in your head, do you hear it literally; do you hear your own voice singing the tune, or do you "hear" it but not hear it like a tape you can stop or start but is the actual song?

Yes I know what you mean. A certain song, or picture or movie will transport you back to the original moment, when it was heard/seen/felt. This happens to me sometimes. It's almost as if the sensation has been memorised and is brought back and triggered when your brain recognises the link. It's almost like reliving the time in question.

That's what I'm curious about-it's not the original moment for me. I knew about Degas before. I think with the Degas my mother and I were having an emotionally important discussion. She was giving me a history of my life long problems with fitting in this world and the Degas was a side topic. Maybe because of the nature of the discussion is why that particular image and the association with the word Degas are imprinted. I'm just wondering why some memories call up the same snapshot image over and over again. But thanks for responding.

For me it's more of a feeling. Almost a deja vous moment. It seems that when your memory is triggered an image pops up. I guess I don't really know why that is, but it could be that the image was imprinted in your memory for a specific reason.

I *think* I know what you mean...It feels like it makes sense to me, but I'd have to think about it for awhile to put it into words;)!

Yes. My brain is full of vivid memories and imprinted associations that replay in moving-picture video. Actually, better than video because it includes all the senses. I can smell and feel the memory right along with the movie. Sometimes it's triggered by something, like you describe... but I can do it at will just by thinking of something. It doesn't necessarily have to be associated with a strong memory at all... it's more like I have stored files of everything. If I want to "re-watch" a movie scene, or smell a certain flower, for example, I just retrieve it from my mind and there it is as vivid as if it were right in front of me. Ditto music:


I hear it literally, an exact playback of the original, and I can start and stop it or play excerpts... a mental CD player.

darby54 wrote:

I hear the original literally but not with my ears. Is that what you mean? When I say with my ears I mean as if you were having an auditory hallucination.

Yes, that's what I mean - it's in my head, not my ears - but it's so vivid I can hear it as clearly as if it were external - does that make sense? It's not a hallucination (at least my understanding of what a hallucination is) because I perceive it as coming from inside my head, not from outside somewhere.

I do that with music. I joke that I have a youtube in my head. I have videos of experiences, things I've watched and dreams running through my mind at all times.

When I am listening to music, I take apart the instruments as well. I'll pick out the drums, guitars, bass, find the synthesizers, figure out how they did the vocals (for a typical rock song, classical/opera is fun in a whole different way!) Sometimes it's very involved for me to listen to music.

Mine's not that vivid- I envy that, particularly the visual. That's even harder for me to describe how I "see" it but then again don't "see" it. I think what I experience is what most people experience. The only time I see very clear images is when I'm in a very relaxed but alert state. Usually the images morph and flow and don't stick around long enough for me to do anything with them. By that I mean artistically. I'm trying to gear up to paint again after many many years. My executive ordering dysfunction really gets in the way. Actually there have been a few times I close my eyes and there is a picture. Sometimes it's burlap under a magnifying glass for some strange reason.

Absolutely. If I remember some songs or hear them again, I immediately think of exactly where I was at the time I heard it. It's not always the first time I heard the song, but often it is the most memorable. It's more likely to happen if I am traveling somewhere and the visual landscape is different. Unlike another poster, I don't remember smells with it, though, unless there was something particularly memorable about the smell of the place.

I too have "recording playback" ability in my head. Someone described it very aptly as having a CD player in your head.

Aimless, very interesting about your art! I have dabbled in some art mediums, I have to do it in my head before I sit down with it.

I'm not able to do that emptyenvelope but I wish I could. Everything slips away too quickly.

That is the truth! I used to write a lot, but I think faster than I can type or write. I have written many lovely poems that have never and will never come out. They leave as fast as they come. I think the visual stuff stays a bit longer, but I have a limited time frame.

I experience the same thing, even when I was little as well.

I described my experiences with it in another thread: http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt72238.html



Yes, from time to time I like to entertain myself by „turning the music on” in my head. It happens when I want to “listen” to my favorite songs.