RT Article
T1 The neuroscience of dissociative amnesia and repressed memory: Premature conclusions and unanswered questions
JF Legal and criminological psychology
VO 30
IS S1
SP 29
OP 46
A1 Otgaar, Henry
A2 Howe, Mark L.
A2 Patihis, Lawrence
A2 Mangiulli, Ivan
A2 Dodier, Olivier
A2 Huntjens, Rafaële
A2 Krackow, Elisa
A2 Jelicic, Marko
A2 Lynn, Steven J. 1946-
LA English
YR 2025
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1925910628
AB Purpose A heated debate exists on whether traumatic memories can be dissociated or repressed. One way in which researchers have attempted to prove the existence of dissociative amnesia or repressed memory is to examine whether claims of amnesia for traumatic events are associated with specific neural markers. Methods Here, we will argue that such neuroscientific examinations do not tell us whether traumatic memories can be unconsciously repressed or dissociated from consciousness, respectively. Results We discuss neuroscientific studies on dissociative amnesia and repressed memory and show that there are no reliable biological markers for dissociative amnesia and that the alleged involved brain areas are heterogenous among studies. Furthermore, we will demonstrate that it is unclear whether these studies truly involved patients with dissociative amnesia and that alternative explanations of dissociative amnesia were often not ruled out (e.g. malingering, organic amnesia). Moreover, we will make the case that the discussed patients in the studies do not meet the DSM-5 criteria for dissociative amnesia. Conclusions Taken together, neuroscientific research into dissociative amnesia does not present a convincing case for a biological basis of the purported memory loss.
K1 dissociative amnesia
K1 memory wars
K1 Neuroscience
K1 repressed memory
DO 10.1111/lcrp.12272