GET NOSTALGIC, AS IT WILL NOT ONLY KEEP YOU WARM, ALSO GOOD FOR THE HEART !

Nostalgia gives us such a mental boost that it drives out 

sensations of cold, found an international team of researchers.

Volunteers were able to keep their hands in ice-cold water for 

longer, and perceived a room to be warmer, when asked to 

recall happy memories.

The reaction might be an evolutionary defence mechanism to 

protect us - temporarily at least - from the cold, said the 

academics.

A senior lecturer at a University  said: "Nostalgia is

experienced frequently and virtually by everyone and we know 

that it can maintain psychological comfort.

For example, nostalgic reverie can combat loneliness. We 

wanted to take that a step further and assess whether it can 

also maintain physiological comfort.

The study has shown that nostalgia serves a homoeostatic function, allowing the mental simulation of previously enjoyed states, including states of bodily comfort; in this case making us feel warmer or increasing our tolerance of cold.

In the study, volunteers at universities in China and the 

Netherlands were put through a series of tests to judge how 

they perceived temperature when recalling ‘normal’ and 

‘nostalgic’ memories.

In one, they were put in one of three rooms: cold (20C), 

comfortable (24C) and hot (28C), and then measured how 

nostalgic they felt. Participants felt more nostalgic in the cold 

room than in the comfortable and hot rooms, indicating it is a 

response to the threat of cold.

In another, they were asked to say how physically warm they felt 

when listening to music.

Those who said the music made them feel nostalgic also 

tended to say that the music made them feel physically warmer.

In a third experiment, they were asked to judge the air 

temperature of a room. Those who had been instructed to think 

nostalgic thoughts thought it was warmer than those who were 

thinking about other things.

The effect was so strong that it even enabled volunteers to 

keep their hands in near ice-cold (4C) water longer.

Volunteers thinking normal thoughts managed 20 seconds, but 

nostalgia enabled them to keep a hand immersed for another 

six.