City Research Online

Abstract

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.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2025 The Author(s). Legal and Criminological Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
Publisher Keywords:	Dissociative Amnesia; Repressed Memory; Memory Wars; Neuroscience
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology H Social Sciences > HM Sociology K Law > K Law (General)
Departments:	School of Health & Medical Sciences > Psychology
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

Export

Downloads