Access
This article is part of Nature's premium content.
Published online 6 November 2007 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2007.220
News
False memories show up in the brain
Your brain can distinguish between real and fake memories, even if you can’t.
It’s a common situation: you’re embroiled in an argument over a fact and you know for certain that you have the right answer. But when someone rushes to their laptop to google the correct answer, you discover that you were wrong.
To read this story in full you will need to login or make a payment (see right).
Comments
Reader comments are usually moderated after posting. If you find something offensive or inappropriate, you can speed this process by clicking 'Report this comment' (or, if that doesn't work for you, email redesign@nature.com). For more controversial topics, we reserve the right to moderate before comments are published.
I had a burst aneurysm in my right frontal brain and was in a coma for 2 months. When I regained awareness, I was mistaking the rehab staff at the hospital for people I used to know at my work at a state hospital. Since the hospital scene was familiar to me, I was certain that the ones caring for me were the people I used to know. i even told a nurse that I had hired the OT that was working with me. She seemed confused and I repeated my assertion. I was absolutely certain that the staff were the people I knew before.Maybe they had a resemblance to the former person and seemed familiar and I had a certain memory that they were those people. i also was certain I was in the hospital where i used to work.Fortunately in time, I could make the distinction between the former hospital and staff and the present.