How Do Science and Emotions Interact?

TAAC 1 Sonia LAOUICHI (42000979)

Unlocking Involuntary Memories: How Do Science and Emotions Interact?

Diving into the realm of involuntary memories, this synthesis tackles the perspectives of an academic article, a scientific study, and a video lecture. The aim? Uncover connections and commonalities among these diverse viewpoints.

Universality and How They Work:

Berntsen's involuntary memories align with an Alzheimer's study, highlighting their common occurrence among individuals with strong autobiographical memory. Both suggest that involuntary memories are as frequent as intentional ones, linking to increased mind-wandering (refers to a mental state in which your attention shifts away from the task at hand and toward unrelated thoughts and feelings.) in Alzheimer's patients and indicating a shared cognitive experience.

Memory System and How We Remember:

Berntsen and the Alzheimer's study talk about how our memory works. They agree that both the memories we try to remember and the ones that just pop up work the same way in our brains. They also point out that remembering on purpose and remembering without trying are a bit different, like using different tools to find memoires.

Emotions and What We Remember:

Both the article and the video talk about how emotions are part of involontary memories. Berntsen says these memories are more emotional, and the video shows a famous story (Proust’s madeleine) that brings back strong feelings. This shows that when our memories come up without us asking, they often come with lots of feelings.

Mental Health Connection:

Berntsen thinks understanding involontary memoires helps with PTSD. The Alzheimer's study hints that wandering minds might be linked to feeling sad. So, involontary memories might not only be about normal memory but also about our mental health.

To conclude, looking at involontary memories from science and stories, we see they share many things. They work similarly in our brains, have strong emotions, and might be connected to how we feel mentally. This mix of science and stories helps us see involontary memories from different sides, bringing together psychology, brain science, and literature.

Words: 320

Reference:

Berntsen, D. (2010). The unbidden past: Involuntary autobiographical memories as a fundamental mode of remembering. Psychological Bulletin, 136(5), 682-709. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0963721410370301 

Haj, M. E., Antoine, P., Moustafa, A. A., Roche, J., Quaglino, V., & Gallouj, K. (2019). Off‐track thoughts: Intentional and unintentional mind wandering in Alzheimer’s disease. Geriatrics & Gerontology International, 19(4), 342–346. https://doi.org/10.1111/ggi.13613 

Serpentine Galleries. (2016, February 1). Memory Marathon 2012: Jean-Yves Tadié - Is there such a thing as involuntary memory? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urqDFF-Gk8g 

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