Why Meeting an Old Friend Can Bring Back Your Old Personality

You meet someone you have not seen for ten years. Within minutes, you are laughing at jokes you had forgotten, using expressions you stopped saying and behaving almost exactly like your younger self. It can feel strangely comforting, even if you have changed enormously since then. This experience is not simply sentimental. Our memories are strongly connected to people, places and situations. When an old friend reappears, they can reactivate a network of memories associated with an earlier period of life. Research into nostalgia suggests that memories of meaningful relationships can strengthen social connectedness and our sense of continuity between past and present selves.