when the brain deliberately forgets
Many studies decipher the process of memorization, but very few on the function of "voluntary" forgetting. Yet, as lead author Nikolai Axmacher, head of the department of neuropsychology at Ruhr University in Bochum, points out, “forgetting is crucial for emotional well-being and allows humans to focus on a task.” These works which thus participate, in the journal Current Biology, in deciphering the function of voluntary forgetfulness, identify 2 areas with a key role, the prefrontal cortex which will then modulate activity in the hippocampus.
Researchers from the Ruhr area, University Hospital Gießen and Marburg, together with colleagues from Bonn, the Netherlands and the UK, analyzed what happens in the brain when humans voluntarily want to forget Something. 2 areas of the brain, the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus show patterns of activity characteristic of the forgetting process.
It is the measurement of cerebral activity in 22 patients suffering from epilepsy equipped with electrodes implanted in the prefrontal cortex and/or in the hippocampus, for the purposes of surgical planning, which allowed this analysis of the activity rhythmic cerebral. During the study, participants had to visualize a certain number of words, and either memorize them or forget them.
The voluntary forget function really exists! The experiment confirms that participants remember less words they are supposed to forget than words they are supposed to memorize.
The function of voluntary forgetting is observed in the brain, precisely through the rhythmic activity in the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex. During active forgetting, the oscillations in the 2 areas of the brain show characteristic changes in specific frequency bands. In the prefrontal cortex, the oscillations between 3 and 5 hertz, in the so-called theta range, are more pronounced. And these oscillations couple with increased oscillations at higher frequencies, between 6 and 18 Hertz, in the hippocampus.
Forgetting therefore has its frequency: these data suggest that during voluntary forgetting, activity in the hippocampus, a key area of memory, is regulated by the prefrontal cortex. Activity in the hippocampus is “switched to a different frequency,” at which data is no longer encoded. So forgotten!
This first understanding of the process of voluntary forgetting could encourage the development of new treatments, for post-traumatic stress disorder for example, aimed at erasing negative emotional memories.
The prefrontal cortex, which exercises active control over memory processes, could thus be activated “at the right oscillations” and for therapeutic purposes by non-invasive magnetic or electrical stimulation.
What is psychogenic memory?
Definition. A disorder characterized by a retrospective gap in memory of important personal information, usually of a traumatic or stressful nature; the memory loss far exceeds ordinary forgetfulness and is not the result of substance use or the consequence of a medical condition.
What is a didactic memory?
What is a didactic memory? Didactic memory may simply be another term for eidetic memory. When a person has this type of memory, they can vividly recall memories as if they were a visual image or mental image that is burned into their minds.
Does the brain try to forget painful memories?
The brain will sometimes hide particularly stressful, traumatic or fear-related memories. This can be protective in the short term, when the emotional pain of recalling the event is still profound.
Why is my brain creating false memories?
Neuroscientists say that many of our daily memories are falsely reconstructed because our view of the world is constantly changing.
Can your brain give you false memories?
False memories can happen to anyone. Some people may be more likely to experience them. The good news is most false memories are harmless and may even produce some laughs when your story conflicts with someone else's memory of it.
Is selective memory a symptom of ADHD?
Children with the Combined Type of ADHD (those with symptoms above the cutoff for inattention and hyperactivity and impulsivity) had significantly worse selective memory than children without ADHD.
Is selective memory a trauma response?
Selective amnesia involves forgetting only some of the events during a certain period of time or only part of a traumatic event. Patients may have both localized and selective amnesia.
Can humans have selective memory?
Selective amnesia involves losing only some of one's memory from a certain period. For instance, this could mean forgetting some parts of a traumatic event, but not all of it. A person can have both selective and localized amnesia.
Is selective memory a real thing?
Selective memory really exists and we can train our mind to forget embarrassing moments completely, research claims. A study found that repressing these memories for long enough can lead to us erasing them completely.
What is selective forgetting?
the forgetting of particular issues, people, or events that is too extensive to be explained by normal forgetfulness and that is posited to be organized according to emotional, rather than temporal, parameters.
Does the brain intentionally forget things?
Neuroimaging studies have demonstrated which brain systems play a part in deliberate forgetting, and studies have shown that it is possible for people to deliberately block memories from their consciousness.
What is it called when you purposely forget a memory?
Suppression. Thought suppression is referred to as the conscious and deliberate efforts to curtail one's thoughts and memories.
