The Neuroscience of Being Human
The Neuroscience of Nostalgia
The bittersweet emotion that strengthens identity, increases social connectedness, buffers against existential threat, and turns the past into medicine for the present
1,174-word article with 8 Harvard references.
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Nostalgia was once classified as a disease, a neurological disorder affecting Swiss mercenaries who yearned so desperately for home that they became unable to fight. Modern neuroscience tells a very different story. Nostalgia is a self-relevant, social, bittersweet emotion that strengthens identity, increases feelings of social connectedness, elevates mood, and provides existential meaning. This fully referenced article explores why the brain generates nostalgia, what it does to the neural systems that regulate wellbeing, and why looking backwards can be one of the most psychologically productive things the mind can do.
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