Written by Nujen Yuksel
Our brain and body change throughout our lifetimes; every atom in our body is replaced by another one approximately every seven years; accordingly, you physically transform into another you (5). Fortunately, there is one consistency that binds all of these diverse versions of you: memory. Memory defines who you are and sustains your sense of identity. Yet, does the reality we've been building in our memory reflect the truth? As David Eagleman said, memory is not a delicate video recording of a slice of your life but a fragile cerebral sensation of the past; to recall it, you must resuscitate it (7).
Consider a time when you and your friends went to a restaurant for dinner. Your friends are there; you know that. Since she always wears dresses, she must have been wearing one, and then another one was wearing a white shirt, or was it pink? Even if all the tables are reserved, if you keep returning to the same memory, you'll see that you can't recall seeing anybody else there. Your memory has therefore begun to fade. Yet why? First off, keep in mind that you only have a finite number of neurons, and each has many roles (7). Because these neurons function in a system with constantly changing connections, they often interact with other neurons. That’s why your memories of dinner with friends develop like this. In other words, as David Eagleman said, the enemy of memory isn’t time; it’s other memories.
Everything you experience changes the activity pattern in your brain. Conversations, for example, create a veil of activity, as do odors and tastes. All of these groups are connected in a network of neurons based on existing connections; the hippocampus reinforces relationships between groups by repeatedly processing this network (2, 8). When neurons are activated at the same moment, they form stronger connections: "working together implies connecting" (6). The resultant neural network is a one-of-a-kind representation of the event and your memories. Your memories are not as extensive as you may imagine, even if you are not always aware of them.
Each new event must form connections with a limited number of neurons. Interestingly enough, the fading memory does not appear to have faded at all to you. Our brain progressively fills in the gaps in our memories, and then it might change entirely. To summarize, this circumstance causes us to recall an event differently defined as "false memories."
False memory is described as recalling an event that did not exist or distorting an event that occurred. Confabulation, on the other hand, is the production of false memories, perceptions, or beliefs about oneself or the environment as a result of a neurological or psychological disorder. Confusion between imagination and memory, or even confusion between actual memories, may arise throughout this process (2).
The first clue that memories can change form comes from Elizabeth Loftus, who works as a psychological scientist. Loftus designed an experiment in which volunteers watched films of car crashes and then answered a series of questions to determine what they recalled. Interestingly enough, the way she asked the questions also influenced the answers she received. As Loftus explains, "the estimates given when I asked how fast the cars were going when they crashed were different from the estimations produced when I asked how fast the cars were going when they bumped into each other." They thought the cars were moving faster when I used the term "crash." (1,4,8)
Loftus decided to go a step further after realizing that even a little pun may deceive the memory. Would it have been capable of creating a false memory for the participants? Was it possible for a wholly fictitious, demonstrably untrue experience to somehow "implant" itself into the mind of an unaware participant?
To find an answer, she assembled a study group and connected them with their families to learn about their pasts (3). Within this knowledge, she developed four stories, three of which were true, and the fourth, while convincing, was completely made up. In the fourth story, the participant gets lost in a shopping center and is eventually reunited with their family. In a set of interviews in which participants were told all four stories, at least a quarter claimed to have been lost at the mall. Additionally, they gradually began to recall something, and when they returned a week later, they claimed to have remembered more (6). As time passed, the false memory became more elaborate. The old lady who rescued me was wearing a flannel shirt, and I had my favorite toy with me (8).
Therefore, just as it is possible to implant false memories in the brain, people can embrace and embellish them; they can also incorporate elements of fantasy into the fabric of their identity. Instead of being a faithful record, our past is a creation of reconstruction. Some of them are brought on by what other people say about us, and we reasonably fill in the blanks. As a result, if the only basis for our identity is our memories, then our identity is a peculiar, ongoing, and unstable tale.
Instead of being a faithful record, our past is a creation of reconstruction. Some of them are brought on by what other people say about us, and we reasonably fill in the blanks. As a result, if the only basis for our identity is our memories, then our identity is a peculiar, ongoing, and unstable tale.
References:
Hogenboom, B. M. (2013, September 29). Why does the human brain create false memories? BBC News. Retrieved September 13, 2022, from https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-24286258.
Guarnieri, R. V. G., Bueno, O. F. A. B., & Tudesco, I. S. S. T. (2019, February 6). True and False Memories: Neuropsychological and Neuropharmacological Approaches. Intechopen. https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/64920.
Creating False Memories. (n.d.). Retrieved September 13, 2022, from https://staff.washington.edu/eloftus/Articles/sciam.htm.
Loftus. (n.d.). Retrieved September 13, 2022, from https://web.bvu.edu//faculty/ferguson/Course_Material/GenPsy/Loftus_Pickerell.htm.
Opfer, C. (2022, August 24). Does your body really replace itself every seven years? HowStuffWorks. Retrieved September 13, 2022, from https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/cellular-microscopic/does-body-really-replace-seven-years.htm.
Loftus, E. F., & Pickrell, J. E. (1995, December). The Formation of False Memories. Psychiatric Annals, 25(12), 720–725. https://doi.org/10.3928/0048-5713-19951201-07.
Eagleman, D. (2017, March 7). The Brain: The Story of You (Reprint). Vintage.
Loftus, E. L. (2011, June 4). The formation of false memories. Http://Weber.u.Washington.Edu/~eloftus/, https://asset-pdf.scinapse.io/prod/2059838760/2059838760.pdf.
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