Upward physical movement associated to memories.

Physical movement and memory are so closely intertwined that even a seemingly meaningless motion, like moving marbles from one box to another, alters the speed and tenor of recall.

The marble-moving study was performed by Daniel Casasanto and Katinka Dijkstra, psychologists at the Max Planck Institute and Erasmus University, and published in March in the journal Cognition.

In earlier studies, the group showed how right-handed people associate positive emotions with the rightward direction, and negative with left. Left-handed people experience the opposite. They’ve also shown that people are better at recalling activities when their bodies are engaged in relevant postures. Other researchers have documented how smiling and frowning alters emotion, and how sitting upright or slumping affects cognitive performance.

Researchers have proposed two explanations for these results. Casasanto and Dijkstra think that motion is metaphorical. We’ve come to associate spatial characteristics with emotional values in our minds, and physical motions activate the same pathways: Jumping sends spirits soaring. Other researchers suspect the link is more direct. They think that we associate memories with physical movements involved in their formation. A nasty fall once caused pain, so falling has negative connotations forever.


To investigate the mechanisms tying motion to memory, Casasanto and Dijkstra instructed 24 college students to move marbles with both hands between two stacked boxes. As they moved the marbles, they were asked about times they had “felt really cool,” “ate something delicious” and other emotion-specific experiences.

When moving the marbles upward, the students were quicker to recall positive experiences and slower to remember the negative. When moving marbles down, happy memories came slowly and sad memories fast.

In the second part of the study, students were asked more general questions, such as “tell me about something that happened last summer.” When moving marbles up, they were more likely to recall a happy time. Moving marbles down brought back unhappy memories.

Because moving marbles is a motion not likely linked to a specific memory, the findings suggest a metaphorical link between motion and memory, say the researchers. Of course, there could still be a direct link in other circumstances. But whatever the explanations, the results add further weight to the idea that bodies are not simply vehicles for our brains, but an important part of our minds.



Source.

when i'm trying to sleep, if i'm stressing over something or having negative thoughts in my head, i've noticed that it helps to roll over and lay on the my other side, though i'm not sure which side because i'm always in a half-asleep state of mind. i'm going to try and pay attention next time

I'd eat the marbles.

Originally Posted by Kevinaswell

Researchers have proposed two explanations for these results. Casasanto and Dijkstra think that motion is metaphorical. We’ve come to associate spatial characteristics with emotional values in our minds, and physical motions activate the same pathways: Jumping sends spirits soaring. Other researchers suspect the link is more direct. They think that we associate memories with physical movements involved in their formation. A nasty fall once caused pain, so falling has negative connotations forever.

Source.

Thanks for sharing this, it was very interesting.

One additional thing that is worth mentioning in conjunction with our perhaps cultural and psychological perceptions based around music is that historically ancient western societies have perceived the linear travel of time as a left-to-right motion. This may be due to the path of the sun across the sky - East-to-West - and our relation to it. It is also used metaphorically in a lot of writing and depictions as an allusion either to the future (looking or moving to the right), or the past (to the left).

This intrinsic social perception imbued in Western society may also play a role in our "positive vs negative" perceptions. But I very much find the study that was sourced to be interesting.

I just know that when I play Prototype and elbow drop a tank from the top of a skyscraper I some times get that... falling sensation... that you can get. >.<

Like a weird feeling in my stomach and a chill that runs up my back.... *shudder*

But now.... I want to go jumpkick some helicopters and do ten story powerbombs. XD

This was really interesting to read! Thanks for sharing. ^^ I need to pay more attention to my physical movements when I think about certain things, because I haven't noticed enough about myself to really confirm if anything you mentioned applies to me.

But the first thing I was reminded of when I saw the title of this topic was that I always look upwards when I'm thinking about really anything in general, whether I'm trying to figure something out, or if I'm remembering something.

Hm, and I might frequently look kind of downward and at a right angle when I'm thinking about something really serious or sad.. but that goes against the theory that right-handed people associate rightward directions with positive emotions, since I'm right-handed. But maybe I just look at a sort of right angle simply only because I'm right-handed, and whether the thoughts are positive or negative have no effect on this?