How Your Brain Creates False Memories

Have you ever had a memory that you are absolutely sure was real, something from your childhood or a picture that triggered déjà vu in your subconscious mind. Have you ever remembered something so vividly that no one else seems to be able to confirm. If you answered yes to any of these questions your brain may have made a false memory.What is a false memory?

A false memory is a vividly imagined event stored in the brain that is deciphered and analysed later as an actual incident. Memories are generally stored as pieces of information in different parts of the brain, like a computer and a hard drive the brain then puts these pieces together to form your memory. The visual parts of the memory that your brain puts together is stored in the visual cortex, the smell associated with the memory is stored in the olfactory cortex by the stone parts of the memory are stored in the auditory cortex. But part of the brain that assembles all of the information and joins them together to form a complete memory is called the limbic system.

The brain has many connections throughout the new runs and details the multitudes of connections involving the storage of memories, parts of memories may get intertwined and so you may have a mixing of memories or information stored from dreams may become twisted with the real memories creating a make-believe memory. An example is that the information responsible for the audio and visual portions of the memory may come from a dream while the sensory aspect may come from an actual memory, this information would come together to form a make-believe memory. The person might smell a familiar smell that takes them back to the audio and visual information from the dream but the brain will process this information as an actual event rather than a dream.

It is possible therefore to remember a dream or a story that someone told you instead of any real memories that you may have had. This creation of false memories has been linked in studies to high stress events or emotional turmoil, this means that the more stressed, happy or afraid you are, the more likely you are to generate false memories. Many of us can relate to this with our first loves, and we can remember incidents that after discussion with the other person we realized never really happened or did not happen specifically as we remember it.

The next time that you have a déjà vu feeling or a vague memory, just try to remember that your brain may be playing a trick on you and is showing you a false memory instead of something that actually happened.

References
1. False Memories Easily Created. http://unisci.com/stories/20012/0613011.htm
2. Anatomy of a False Memory. http://scienceblogs.com/neurophilosophy/2008/06/anatomy_of_a_false_memory.php