You’d think that going to see Taylor Swift on her Eras Tour would be unforgettable, but it turns out that some fans are finding it hard to remember the experience.
TIME reports that fans have been reporting “post-concert amnesia” after going to see the show. One fan told TIME that while leaving the show, she was looking at the set list and asking her friends, “Did she really play that?”
And that fan isn’t alone: TIME reports that many other fans have taken to social media to share their inability to recall small details or even huge chunks of the show. Some even say they feel guilty they can’t remember it “All Too Well,” so to speak.
One fan told TIME, “It feels like ‘an out-of-body experience,’ as though it didn’t really happen to me. Yet I know it did, because my bank account took a $950 hit to cover the ticket.”
It turns out that this isn’t a Taylor Swift-specific phenomenon. Ewan McNay, an associate professor in the psychology department at the State University of New York at Albany, tells TIME, “It happens any time you’re in a highly emotional state.”
Apparently, as the body’s stress levels increase, the neurons associated with memory begin “firing indiscriminately,” which makes it “really hard” for the brain to retain information.
“Too much excitement pushes you over the edge in terms of memory formation, and you’re unable to make memories,” McNay explains.
So how can you prepare yourself to remember as much of Taylor’s three-hour show as you can? McNay says if you try standing still, as opposed to jumping or screaming, that sends a message to your brain that there’s no need to get overly excited. That, in turn, encourages memory formation.
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