False Memories

I found two articles, one from Scientific American and another from Science Daily, that talk about the relationship between memories and visual perception.

Have you ever tried sharing a memory that didn't quite match up with someone else's version of the story? This is because our brains try to fill in the gaps of our memory by replacing them with what we believe the most likely scenario would have been. We rely on our collective memories as a resource for recalling other past experiences. The problem is that every person relies on a different set of collective memories to fill in the blanks. Because of this, different people will remember different things more intensely while completely forgetting others.

The power of suggestion also plays an important role. Our visual memory draws obvious conclusions to things like patterns and objects partially obstructed from view. We are able to visually complete the blanks. For a long time visual illusions and false memories were studied separately but scientists are now realizing that the two fields are much more related than they had initially thought. People are able to believe things that never happened because of the suggestion of others or from their collective memory. This causes a false memory.

This made me think.. How can these false memories be separated from real ones in places like a court room where firsthand accounts are taken very seriously. Taking an oath doesn't necessarily mean that the truth of the situation and the memory of the situation will match up. The memory being retold will be heavily influenced by their opinions about the trial, the pressure of being a witness, as well as the manipulation of those in charge of questioning the witness. The truth is, the integrity of the memory is lost only moments after it is perceived.

The second article explains a study in which the diversion of attention can actually help specific people remember things more clearly. Some people have problems confabulating stories because they try to process the information too many times. For normal people, directed attention helps them remember the information. But for people who suffer from lesions in their prefrontal lobe, divided attention actually helped them remember. This proves that the way in which we perceive the information given to us will directly affect how we remember it. This includes emotional and physical stimuli.

What about Alzheimer's patients? Can these confabulated truths be related to their memories? I wonder if there is a way to connect the studies done on these patients with prefrontal lesions to patients suffering from Alzheimer's or Dementia. Severe memory loss caused by these diseases of the brain can cause the patients to have memories that never actually existed in the first place. They begin to believe that their daughters are their sisters or their sons are their brothers. This is because they try to draw a line from the emotional closeness they feel with that person to the most likely relation they are able to recall.

I think it is very helpful to be aware of how influential our minds can be on our memories. It is important to be aware of the ways in which we may warp our memories to prevent ourselves from acting on a false memory or experience. These studies may even have the potential to help victims of violent crimes who block out the negative memories. By furthering our understanding of how and why we remember we can gain deeper truths from our daily experiences.