Every one of us experiences them several times a day. They put us in a good mood, help us plan the future or use knowledge acquired in the past. Investigating the mechanisms of formation of involuntary autobiographical memories may assist us in combating unwanted memories that are consequences of traumatic events.

Involuntary autobiographical memories typically surface during activities which do not require a lot of attention. Therefore it is more probable that we will recollect a chance meeting with an old friend, the taste of a delicious meal or watching a comedy with friends while ironing than having an important conversation.

"Involuntary memories are formed spontaneously, without the intention of recalling something from the past. They're a common everyday phenomenon and are mostly related to pleasant and positive experiences. People suffering from depression are an exception to this; in their case, recalling positive experiences is less likely," says Dr Krystian Barzykowski from the Applied Memory Research Laboratory, led by Prof. Agnieszka Niedźwieńska from the JU Institute of Psychology.

He continued to explain that these are relatively "fresh" memories, since they most often concern fairly recent time span, e.g. a few months. "They can play a crucial role in keeping us in a good mood, providing us with a sense of identity, helping us plan the future and use our experience. We estimate that they occur several times a day, but these estimates are usually too low," adds Dr Barzykowski.

Up until now, the research on involuntary memories have been conducted mostly in the context of posttraumatic stress disorder. Lia Kvavilashvili from the British University of Hertfordshire enumerates three kinds of involuntary memories: non-intrusive, intrusive and flashbacks.

"The first of those are common in healthy people and they're the ones mostly experienced by us. They can concern positive, negative or neutral experiences. They surface unexpectedly and we rarely experience them multiple times. The latter two – intrusive memories and flashbacks – are described as recurring and unwanted, i.e. those we'd want to avoid," says Dr Barzykowski.

He explained that flashbacks are characteristic of people who experienced trauma and are related to the event that lies at their root: they cause us pain and often adversely affect our mood and productivity. "Their unique property is a renewed, intensive feelings that accompanied the traumatic experience. This is why they are always tied to negative experiences," stresses Dr Barzykowski.

Between those two kinds there is also the third – intrusive memories. These are recurring, unwanted thoughts that can be either positive or negative. "Their intensity is a lot lower than in the case of flashbacks and they're not accompanied by a renewed feelings about the event."

The scientists still know relatively little about involuntary memories. The first paper on this subject was written as late as 1996 by Prof. Dorthe Berntsen from the Danish Aarhus University. This is why in his PhD thesis, funded by the National Science Centre in the framework of the ETIUDA scholarship and PRELUDIUM contest, Dr Krystian Barzykowski tried to discover how healthy, non-traumatised people recollect the past.

"This kind of research may prove to be very beneficial for society, because if we get to know how involuntary autobiographical memories from naturally in healthy people, we might be able to understand the process of formation of unwanted memories," says Dr Barzykowski.

In his research, he focused chiefly on the processes which, on the one hand, affect the frequency of formation of involuntary memories, while on the other, lead to formation of particular memories. Dr Barzykowski elaborates: "Maybe some day it will let us increase or decrease the amount of involuntary memories that we experience, or influence their content. In other words, maybe it will allow us to develop strategies to reduce the frequency of  recalling involuntary memories that are tied to a traumatic event."

Researching involuntary memories proves to be a difficult task. They cannot be evoked on purpose, since they will automatically cease to be involuntary. Therefore, the researchers simply have to wait until the participants recall something and write it down in a special notebook. Another method is conducting research in laboratory conditions. The participants are asked to perform monotonous tasks, which facilitates or hinders the formation of such memories. When they surface, they are registered to allow for further research.

"The tendency to experience involuntary memories increases with age. The elderly are particularly prone to reminisce, which may also induce involuntary memories. It's difficult to discern cause from effect. Seniors generally experience involuntary memories more frequently than youngsters," says Dr Barzykowski.

There are also rare cases where people spontaneously recall nearly everything from their past. One of them was a 40 year old woman, whose memory was a totally involuntary, automatic and constant process of recollecting, which caused her to devote a tremendous amount of time to reminisce.

"Her case suggests that her memory was an incontrollable, endless stream of reminiscences flooding her thoughts. She admitted that it prevented her from functioning normally and made it difficult for her to focus on here and now. It was hard for her to restrain herself from recollecting the past," stressed Dr Barzykowski.

More information on the research of the Applied Memory Research Laboratory can be found in the latest issue of the "Jagiellonian Projector".

source: naukawpolsce.pap.pl