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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

When intrusive thoughts in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) feature inaccurate memories, you may have false memory OCD. As with other subtypes of OCD, medication and psychotherapy can help treat ...