What is it about?
To what extent do attempts to forget the past create amnesia for the present? We review the causes and consequences of this unintended side effect related to changes in brain activity within the hippocampal memory system.
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Why is it important?
Together with previously reported forms of forgetting (e.g. inattention, decay over time, interference from related memories, and brain damage), this new type of suppression-induced amnesia may add to explanations as to why individuals recovering from major traumas often have generalized memory impairments for experiences unrelated to the traumatic events themselves. To the extent that suppressing memories of the past creates a temporary learning impairment for the present, individuals regularly employing such a suppression strategy to cope with chronic memory intrusions may be particularly susceptible to the amnesic side effects.
Perspectives
By learning more about the neural and cognitive mechanisms that allow us to remember when we want to remember and forget when we want to forget, we can identify memory control strategies that could help us to let go of traumatic experiences of the past without losing memories of the present.
Justin Hulbert
Bard College
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Unintended side effects of a spotless mind: theory and practice, Memory, July 2017, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2017.1354999.
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