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What is the context of this research?

Almost everyone can think of a certain song that conjures up a specific memory from their lifetime. For me, one such song is "Beautiful Savior," which reminds me of singing in my first Christmas Festival at St. Olaf College - the lights dimmed, the audience in front of me, and the voices of the choirs all around me. We have all experienced the power of music and it's ability to take us back to moments in our lives.

I want to investigate how music is connected to memories and how it can improve memories in patients with brain damage. I predict that music will evoke richer, more vivid, more emotional, and overall more personally significant memories.



See below to learn more about the experimental design!



What is the significance of this project?

Music is an inherent, important aspect of human life - people of all cultures, religions, and eras have used music to enhance their lives. While it may seem apparent that music is intimately tied to our personal, autobiographical memories, there has been very little research investigating this idea.

Since music seems so intimately connected to our most memorable life events, music may be a powerful tool to help patients retrieve personally significant memories.

What are the goals of the project?

In order to study patients with brain damage, we must recruit and bring these patients into our lab. These participants graciously provide their time, attention, and skills towards our research projects. Some participants travel across the state, region, or country to participate in our research. Since their participation is so crucial to the success of our research, 100% of the funding for this project will be used to compensate them. In this way, you are directly giving back to those who may most benefit from this research!



Stretch Goal: If I surpass my goal, my "stretch" goal will be an additional $1,300. Additional funds will be used to

recruit more brain-damaged participants. It costs on average $125 per participant, so the more money I raise the more patients I will be able to study. Additionally, a small portion of the funds will be used to purchase an audio recorder to record the patients descriptions of their memories.

