Every memory you ever had is in some respects a hallucination. You can see a scene, feel a feeling, even smell a smell at a time and in a context in which they didn’t occur at all. That’s both good ...

Memory shapes us. Our beliefs, thoughts, fears, rationalities – all are shaped by our past experiences in the form of memory. Memories anchor us to the past and help us make sense of the present.

Ever wake up convinced something happened that actually didn’t? That vivid memory of a conversation with your friend, a movie you’re sure you watched, or an event that feels completely real but never ...

False memories cause real problems. A false identification sends an innocent person to prison. A false childhood memory can disrupt a family. But what if there are ways to reverse false memories? What ...

During an event, details like what you saw, smelled, and felt aren't stored as a single memory. Rather, they are encoded and stored in your brain separately. To retrieve that memory, those pieces must ...

Have you ever been certain that something happened, only to later realize it never did? These experiences are more common than you might think. Known as false memories, they are recollections that ...

In 1990, George Franklin was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison based on the testimony of his 28-year-old daughter Eileen. She described seeing him rape her best friend and then smash ...

It’s easy enough to explain why we remember things: multiple regions of the brain — particularly the hippocampus — are devoted to the job. It’s easy to understand why we forget stuff too: there’s only ...

New research finds that intoxication with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive compound in cannabis, makes people more predisposed to forming false memories. The findings have significant ...

Gabrielle Principe does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond ...