According to a recent study, walking down memory lane by looking at nostalgic images can help soothe emotional and biological pain… Yup, this is real!
Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences conducted a study where they showed nostalgic images from their participants’ childhood memories. Some of the images included cartoons, candy, and schoolyard games.
They found that the endorphins you get from looking at nostalgic images can actually calm down brain activity, which heals emotional and physical pain like headaches and migraines.
“Human participants’ behavior results showed that the nostalgia paradigm significantly reduced participants’ perception of pain, particularly at low pain intensities,” according to one of the study’s researchers, Huajian Cai.
While there are many alternatives to easing pain (be it emotional or physical), this study suggests a new way to help repair certain traumas without the use of medication.