How come we can remember a part of a memory but not the whole thing

Question

How come we can remember a part of a memory but not the whole thing

In: Biology

Answer 1

I’ve read discussions that posit memories are not like watching a video, rather they are composed of discrete components, layered to provide an illusion of “completeness”.

For example: one part consists of the topic, another part might be whether or not the topic is true or false. Another might be details about where and when, another about who was present, etc..

If so, one might remember some details of an event, but not others.