However, damage to parts of the brain which are involved with memory may render a person unable to remember previously stored information, or unable to store new memories. Damage to parts of the brain which are not involved with memory will not result in memory problems (although they may cause other sorts of problems!). Some parts of the brain are critical for storage and/or retrieval of memories while others are not. The first thing to think about is that the brain is a modular system, meaning that it is comprised of specialized parts, each of which does a particular job. We will now review the more important of these findings so as to set ourselves up to appreciate what memory reconsolidation implies. Many details about how the brain manages to remember things have been painstakingly revealed through careful scientific research, however. Scientists have been studying the brain and nervous system for well over a hundred years now and still don't fully understand how memory works. Memory is a really complicated and subtle thing. The more you know about how memory works, however, the more in awe you have to become. For them, memory is, more or less, something taken for granted that aspect of the mind which allows you to remain aware of what you had for breakfast the other day, and which you lose if you develop Alzheimer's Disease. Many people aren't thoughtful enough of what a miracle it is that we can remember things, I think. Finally, we will conclude by talking about additional issues and concerns that may be on people's minds as they digest this somewhat technical material.Ĭhanging understandings of how memory works Having explained memory reconsolidation, we are then in a position to talk about the clinical implications of this process and some of the studies that are currently underway dealing with the treatment of PTSD. This review of memory will give us the foundation we need to explain the phenomena of memory reconsolidation, so that will come next. First we will talk about memory in general - it's architecture and mechanisms and some of the assumptions that we have been guided by about how memory functions that have served us up to this point. I'm going to lay out my discussion in four parts.

I'm pleased to be able to present that context now. Interestingly, we've written about this stuff before without really understanding the importance of the back story. The process must be handled carefully, as improper or unethical manipulation of memories can have unintended and potentially harmful consequences. However, it's important to note that memory reconsolidation is a complex process, and more research is needed to fully understand how it can be utilized in mental health treatment.

Trauma and memory loss