Reply to comment

The Science Times has become a lot more intriguing since I began taking this course!  This week, one of the articles I read was titled A Study of Memory Looks at Fact and Fiction.  The article was written by Benedict Carey and forced me to think about the models of the nervous system we described in class.  Carey writes about a recent study in which researches questioned the human capability to repress traumatic memories.  The researchers attempted to historically prove that the ability to temporarily forget certain memories is a “culture-bound syndrome,” rather than an actual neurological process.  These researchers, however, have been criticized for arriving at a conclusion before even beginning their study.  Other experts argue that there are in fact “real” cases of repressed memory both currently and that date as far back as to the days of the Greeks.This entire debate, often referred to as the “memory war,” has been revived as a popular subject of discussion due to the recent sexual abuse scandals between adults and children in the Roman Catholic Church.  Young, healthy individuals, prove to be a good example to demonstrate the link between trauma and forgetfulness.  Sexually abused children are often confused after receiving sexual advances from an adult they trust.  They may also be hurt, upset, and lonely.  These children’s brains often block their access to the painful memories, and then suddenly release them later in their lives. Whereas the brain will usually remember dangerous events, in order to prevent them from happening again, seemingly, it has the capability to break down memories that are too difficult to handle.  The brain, in effect, may have a built in survival mechanism.  In the article, this situation was explained as follows.  After an unwanted sexual advance, for example, a child may store this memory in a “neural drawer” with other confusing memories of youth.  Years later, the memory will surface, and the repulsiveness of the situation will be understood by the victim, thus causing an output of certain behaviors.This leads me to wonder about the Autonomy Model of the nervous system.  Although this model leaves room for inputs and outputs to not direct connect, and for living beings to react as they please, it does not explain suppressed memory.  How is it that one can have an experience, and then repress it rather than react to it until years later?  This is not simply a matter of forgetfulness, but rather a question of storage space.  Where do traumatic memories go for the periods of time when people block them?