Emotions in chords: a psychogenerative study on emotional regulation, memory, and the construction of subjectivity

Abstract

Music has accompanied human development since before language and remains one of the most potent emotional mediators throughout life. This article investigates how music acts as an emotional regulation tool, integrating contributions from neuroscience, psychology, and affective memory studies. A qualitative-quantitative approach is adopted, based on a questionnaire applied to 111 participants of different age groups. Data indicate that music is used both as a form of emotional validation and as a mechanism for escape, internal reorganization, and resignification of experiences. The study discusses how melodies trigger psychophysiological and symbolic processes, activating brain networks related to emotion, memory, and reward. It also explores the role of music in the constitution of identity and the elaboration of affective bonds, with an in-depth analysis of the BRECVEMA Model mechanisms. It is concluded that music is a universal resource for self-care, capable of embracing, organizing, and transforming emotional states, sustaining subjectivities throughout the life cycle, and enhancing interventions in clinical practice.