Memory feels like a mental video archive, but psychologists have shown it behaves more like a creative editor, constantly ...

Every memory you ever had is in some respects a hallucination. You can see a scene, feel a feeling, even smell a smell at a time and in a context in which they didn’t occur at all. That’s both good ...

There isn’t a hard line differentiating a false memory and simply misremembering where you put your keys. But, in general, ...

Why the brain fills in the gaps—even when it shouldn't Medically reviewed by Shaheen Lakhan, MD, PhD, FAAN Confabulation is when someone unconsciously remembers things that didn't happen. People who ...

False memories cause real problems. A false identification sends an innocent person to prison. A false childhood memory can disrupt a family. But what if there are ways to reverse false memories? What ...

Memory shapes us. Our beliefs, thoughts, fears, rationalities – all are shaped by our past experiences in the form of memory. Memories anchor us to the past and help us make sense of the present.

During an event, details like what you saw, smelled, and felt aren't stored as a single memory. Rather, they are encoded and stored in your brain separately. To retrieve that memory, those pieces must ...