![]() A victim interviewed shortly after an assault, or while still very stressed or traumatized, will not be able to retrieve everything that’s been encoded into her brain. Scientific information on the stabilization of memory through consolidation has significant implications for the timing of police interviews. Over time, the memory becomes resilient to these forms of interference through the process known as consolidation (McGaugh, 2000). McGaugh (2002) explains, that initially, unconsolidated memory is in a fragile state and can be disrupted by several types of interference, including behavioral, pharmacological, and electrical. Memory consolidation signifies the stabilization process of a newly formed long-term memory. This is a critical survival feature of implicit memory, enabling an instant response to danger. These memories are associated with intense arousal making them readily primed in order to quickly associate them with future situations that are stressful or threatening. The amygdala, part of the limbic system, catalogues past sensory experiences (threats, anger) as implicit memories, memories that are unconscious but can affect thoughts and behaviours. ![]() Over time, when memory is consolidated, its long-term storage is distributed in different parts of the neocortex. This part of the brain is responsible for integrating the raw sensory data into a coherent picture, putting a time tag on it, and transferring it into long-term episodic memory, where it can be retrieved later. It is a “cognitive memory,” a memory we can remember in our thinking brain, or prefrontal cortex.įor explicit memory, we need the hippocampus. Explicit memory is what we usually think of as memory. The hippocampus is responsible for putting experience into chronological order and into perspective it is necessary for forming new explicit memories. The hippocampus and the amygdala are two brain structures that encode memory. The Hippocampus and the Amygdala: Encoding and Consolidating Memory The brain has learned “this is important, remember this because it could later save your life.” To understand this more fully it is necessary to look at two key brain structures, the hippocampus and the amygdala. However, after being traumatized certain central events may be remembered forever and this is an adaptive outcome. Memories of trauma are like normal memories in these respects, but they have important characteristics that make them much different from normal, everyday memories. ![]() Our brain-based memory systems have been sculpted to function adaptively. (Dudai, 2002) Additionally, over time memory works to edit information, and we lose memories, forget some details of memories we do retain, and modify aspects of other memories as the result of repeated retrievals. Memory retrieval refers to “the access, selection, reactivation, or reconstruction of stored internal representations”. This differential focus is what memory scientists refer to as central versus peripheral details. When encoding an event, we focus more attention on aspects that our brain appraises as important and less on those deemed insignificant. There are three main ways in which information can be encoded: visual, acoustic and semantic. ![]() Then we convert the information so it can be stored in various parts of the brain. Three processes are involved in memory: encoding, storage, and recall.įirst we receive the information (e.g., from what we see, hear, and understand). Memory is essentially the capacity for storing and retrieving information. As a result, we recall and narrate traumatic events differently than routine events. Our memories are fallible and have gaps and inconsistencies. It is well known within the scientific and psychological communities that human memory and recall do not function like a tape recorder, faithfully recording events later to be recalled on command. However, traumatic events such as sexual assaults, are encoded (converted) differently than more routine, everyday experiences in life. “One of the most critical contributors to achieving just outcomes in cases is eliciting the most complete and accurate information from the primary source of evidence – the complainant.” (Westera, Zydervelt, Kaladelfos, & Zajac, 2017, p. People often assume and expect that we will be able to recollect major events in our lives with clear and unwavering accuracy and that this determines the “truth” of what happened. PART III – How Trauma Affects Memory and Recall ![]() The Impact of Trauma on Adult Sexual Assault Victims ![]()
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