Involuntary autobiographical memories: an introduction to the unbidden past with Dorthe Berntsen

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Why do memories of past events suddenly come to mind? How common are such memories? How can they be studied experimentally? How do they differ from memories we retrieve deliberately? Are they adaptive and functional - or just a distraction?
Involuntary autobiographical memories are conscious memories of past events that come to mind spontaneously, with no preceding conscious search, but often in response to distinct situational cues (such as a melody, a taste or a smell triggering a memory). In contrast to the conventional view in psychology that such memories are rare or dysfunctional, more recent evidence shows that they are highly frequent in daily life and mostly positive.
Dorthe Berntsen, leader of the centre of excellence Con Amore will explain that experimental research has demonstrated that the appearance of such autobiographical memories is governed by well-known mechanisms of association. Brain scanner data suggest that they involve less executive processes compared with autobiographical memories retrieved deliberately. They may be viewed as a ‘short-cut’ to the personal past with possible implications for our understanding of autobiographical memory in individuals with impaired or less developed executive functions, such as individuals suffering from depression or dementia.
An invitation to learn more about yourself and, if you really want to take it seriously, you can be the subject of the experiment.