[] How does the brain repress memories and not let people remember entire parts of their lives?
In: Other
A lot of people in this thread are saying we don’t have any science to back up the idea of repressed memories, but I don’t think that’s true. Memory encoding/decoding has been shown to be state-dependent, so many memories are difficult to access unless the subject is in a similar state to the one they were in when they created the memory. There is a lot of good research on this.
The one I’m linking is interesting because it seems to be saying that fear memories are literally encoded in a neurologically different manner than regular memories and can not be accessed unless the subject is in a similar state of stress. That would certainly explain a lot of “repressed” memories. It’s like listening to FM, but you also have AM which you have to switch over to to hear. It’s still there.
I have definitely experienced memories that pop up only of I am in a similar situation or have a very strongly associated stimulus. I could have eaten something as a child and never thought about it, but if I eat it again, the memories come flooding back. It wasn’t “repressed” but it might never have “surfaced”. Everything is associated. There is definitely scientific research to indicate that things can be effectively disassociated, or rather associated with an entirely different, alternative set of associations.
Time will tell.
[How traumatic memories hide in the brain, and how to retrieve them](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/08/150817132325.htm)
Latest Answers