Our memory is not perfect. It is like a problematic tape recorder. Some moments are recorded and some data are lost. We all want our memory to be deeper and more remembered. However, sometimes our brains are mistakenly “recording†and remembering something that has never happened before, scientists call it “false memoryâ€. In a small study recently published in the journal Neuropsychology, researchers found the culprit that could have caused this.
Where did the wrong memory come from?
In most cases, false memories do not cause too much disruption in our lives. At most, we have "remembered" that we have already cleaned up our rooms and found that our family did not do it. However, when such erroneous memories belong to witnesses in a particular case, they may affect the testimony and mislead the case.
Where did our wrong memories come from? Previous studies have shown that sleep plays a role in the formation of false memories. In a small study recently published in the Journal of Neuropsychology, the researchers found the culprit that could have caused this situation, locking the target to sleep spindle waves. The sleep spindle is a concussive activity produced by the interaction between the brain's thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN) and other thalamic nuclei. It occurs in the relatively shallow stage of sleep, the second stage.
Napping affects word memory
In order to study how sleep spindles play a role in the formation of false memories, the researchers recruited 32 college students who had adequate rest and did not drink caffeinated beverages. Before being connected to a polysomnography device, participants were asked to see words related to the same topic. Afterwards, these college students were randomly assigned to two groups: the nap group and the keep-alive group.
The members of the nap group were assigned to a room with blinds and a bed, while the sobriety group was asked to watch a natural documentary or cartoon. A polysomnographic recorder was used to record participants' brain activity to ensure that the nap group actually fell asleep, not just lying on the bed.
After the "activity" of sleeping and watching TV was over, the participants were asked to see a series of words again and asked if they had seen these words. Some of these words have already been shown before the event, but some are new words. In addition, the researchers also did some “disturbing†and added “bait words†that were related to the subject of all the words but had not appeared before.
It was found that those participants who had slept were more likely to be victims of "bait" words. They said that they had seen these words before and actually formed false memories. Based on previous research, scientists have anticipated that this result will occur.
The wrong memory comes from the right brain
However, the researchers wanted to further test the difference between the right and left hemispheres of the brain to see if one side of the brain is more easily cheated than the other side. So, the researchers designed the following experiment: let the word flash on the screen particularly on the left and particularly on the right, so that by capturing the visual area of ​​the image, only one side of the brain hemisphere can receive information at a time.
If the participant blinks, it is possible to miss this word. John Shaw, a doctoral student in psychology at Lancaster University in the United Kingdom, explained that the reason for flashing words is to make the brain “left and rightâ€. If the words stay on the screen for a long time, the two hemispheres of the participants’ brains Can read words.
The study found that compared to the left hemisphere of the brain, the right hemisphere of the brain where more spindles appear during sleep is more susceptible to decoy or false memory. For example, the spindle wave may vigorously promote the word "sleep" and tell the brain to remember the word before, because "sleep" meets the topics of other words that have been seen before, such as "bed", "dream", "nap" , "hiccups" and so on.
Previous studies have suggested that sleep spindles are associated with memory formation, Xiao said, but previous sleep spindle studies focused on real memory rather than false memories. In fact, sleep spindle waves are thought to play a very important role in the work of "archiving management", integrating short-term memory into the long-term archives of the brain. At the same time, the sleep spindle also contributes to the development of the cerebral cortex. However, this study was the first to discover that sleep spindle waves accidentally created false memories.
Will extend to sleep throughout the night
We may be very upset about this mistake, but researchers feel that it is not necessary to “get angry†with their brains, because it is also a good intention and just wants to improve efficiency. "When we went to bed, the brain spent a lot of time and effort trying to find the most important part of the previous day's learning," said Robert Stig, director of the Center for Sleep and Awareness at a medical center in the United States.
Although Stiegg did not participate in the study, he presented the deficiencies of this small study - the results did not provide enough evidence to conclusively prove that the right hemisphere of the brain produced erroneous memory during sleep. "Although it does not reach statistical significance, the results are relatively close. There is a greater correlation between false memory and sleep spindle waves, and I think this should be correct."
The researchers stated that they hope to increase the number of participants in the follow-up study and extend the nap setting to sleep throughout the night to see if they can also find the “prank†the brain does. (Chen Xiaodan)
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