PH
A former partner can become connected with songs, restaurants, games, foods, neighborhoods, times of day, jokes, and even notification sounds.
Through associative learning, encountering one part of a stored experience can activate related memories.
This helps explain why breakup memories can appear at seemingly random moments.
The trigger may be so ordinary that you don't consciously notice it.
Your brain isn't necessarily choosing to think about the person.
Something in the environment may simply have pressed an old memory button.
© Current Directions in Psychological Science