The fate of traumatic memories in childhood and adulthood

The present article addresses issues concerning the complex relation between memory and trauma in childhood and adult life. Research findings showing how children and adults remember public and personal emotional events are presented, and mechanisms functioning to hold traumatic memories back from awareness are discussed. In the final section, developmental aspects are addressed by considering the interplay between child and adult trauma. Several cases are described that show how childhood trauma may be represented in memory and influence later development and adult memory processes.     

An improved method for chromosome counting in maize

An improved method for counting chromosomes in maize (Zea mays L.) is presented. Application of cold treatment (5C, 24 hr), heat treatment (42 C, 5 min) and a second cold treatment (5C, 24 hr) to root tips before fixation increased the number of condensed and dispersed countable metaphase chromosome figures. Fixed root tips were prepared by the enzymatic maceration-air drying method and preparations were stained with acetic orcein. Under favorable conditions, one preparation with 50-100 countable chromosome figures could be obtained in diploid maize using this method. Conditions affecting the dispersion of the chromosomes are described. This technique is especially useful for determining the somatic chromosome number in triploid and tetraploid maize lines.     

Emotional expression and physical heath: Revising traumatic memories or fostering self-regulation?

Health benefits derived from personal trauma disclosure are well established. This study examined whether disclosing emotions generated by imaginative immersion in a novel traumatic event would similarly enhance health and adjustment. College women, preselected for trauma presence, were randomly assigned to write about real traumas, imaginary traumas, or trivial events. Yoked real-trauma and imaginary-trauma participants wrote about real-trauma participants' experiences. Imaginary-trauma participants were significantly less depressed than real-trauma participants at immediate posttest, but they were similarly angry, fearful, and happy. Compared with control group participants, both trauma groups made significantly fewer illness visits at 1-month follow-up: however, real-trauma participants reported more fatigue and avoidance than did the other groups. Imaginary-trauma group effects could reflect catharsis, emotional regulation, or construction of resilient possible selves. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neural systems for tactual memories

1. The aim of this study was to investigate the neural systems involved in the memory processing of experiences through touch. 2. Regional cerebral blood flow was measured with positron emission tomography by means of the water bolus H2(15)O methodology in human subjects as they performed tasks involving different levels of tactual memory. In one of the experimental tasks, the subjects had to palpate nonsense shapes to match each one to a previously learned set, thus requiring constant reference to long-term memory. The other experimental task involved judgements of the recent recurrence of shapes during the scanning period. A set of three control tasks was used to control for the type of exploratory movements and sensory processing inherent in the two experimental tasks. 3. Comparisons of the distribution of activity between the experimental and the control tasks were carried out by means of the subtraction method. In relation to the control conditions, the two experimental tasks requiring memory resulted in significant changes within the posteroventral insula and the central opercular region. In addition, the task requiring recall from long-term memory yielded changes in the perirhinal cortex. 4. The above findings demonstrated that a ventrally directed parietoinsular pathway, leading to the posteroventral insula and the perirhinal cortex, constitutes a system by which long-lasting representations of tactual experiences are formed. It is proposed that the posteroventral insula is involved in tactual feature analysis, by analogy with the similar role of the inferotemporal cortex in vision, whereas the perirhinal cortex is further involved in the integration of these features into long-lasting representations of somatosensory experiences.     

The reality of repressed memories.

Repression is one of the most haunting concepts in psychology. Something shocking happens, and the mind pushes it into some inaccessible corner of the unconscious. Later, the memory may emerge into consciousness. Repression is one of the foundation stones on which the structure of psychoanalysis rests. Recently there has been a rise in reported memories of childhood sexual abuse that were allegedly repressed for many years. With recent changes in legislation, people with recently unearthed memories are suing alleged perpetrators for events that happened 20, 30, even 40 or more years earlier. These new developments give rise to a number of questions: (1) How common is it for memories of child abuse to be repressed? (2) How are jurors and judges likely to react to these repressed memory claims? (3) When the memories surface, what are they like? and (4) How authentic are the memories? (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The controversy over recovered memories.

Comments on the article by J. L. Alpert et al (see record 2000-13581-002), which presented the report of the American Psychological Association Working Group on Investigation of Memories of Childhood Abuse. The authors discuss 4 issues in this commentary: (a) the assumptions and evidence used to support the case for dissociated and recovered memories (noting that the evidence is weak and the assumptions internally inconsistent as well as contradictory to a mass of experimental evidence about human memory); (b) the process by which dissociated memories are said to be recovered (events that were originally very poorly encoded as fragmentary, kinesthetic memories cannot be recovered with accuracy later); (c) 4 bodies of relevant, but neglected, research on human memory (reminiscence and hypermnesia, effectiveness of retrieval cues, priming in implicit memory tests, and intentional forgetting); and (d) the issue of appropriate research strategies to gain evidence on the thorny issues of long-delayed retrieval of information. Current evidence does not support the conclusion that memories of repeated abuse are dissociated and recovered with accuracy years later. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reliable and very sensitive flow-cytometric method for counting low leucocyte numbers in platelet concentrates

Reduction of leucocytes in blood components, achieved by filtration, may reduce the risk of HLA alloimmunization, virus transmission, and febrile reactions. Nevertheless, white blood cell (WBC) concentrations obtained in this way can be too low to be accurately counted with automated and manual techniques. We describe here a rapid, reliable, and very sensitive method for counting low leucocyte numbers using flow cytometry. WBC nuclei are labelled by propidium iodide. A known amount of fluorescein- and phycoerythrin-conjugated beads (Standard Brite, Coulter) is added as an indicator of the examined volume. The time required for analyzing one tube is approximately 5 min. This method was first validated by comparing WBC counts (120-2,570/microliters) assessed on a haemocytometer (Bürker) and by flow cytometry. The second step was to determine the sensitivity of the method: we diluted normal platelet concentrates with phosphate-buffered saline. The comparison of expected with observed values showed a very good correlation up to a concentration of 1 WBC/microliter. This technique is an accurate method that can be applied in blood bank quality controls and in clinical studies.     

False memories for end-of-life decisions.

Objective: To examine people's false memories for end-of-life decisions. Design: In Study 1, older adults decided which life-sustaining treatments they would want if they were seriously ill. They made these judgments twice, approximately 12 months apart. At Time 2, older adults and their self-selected surrogate decision makers tried to recall the older adults' Time 1 decisions. In Study 2, younger adults made treatment decisions twice, approximately 4 months apart. At Time 2, younger adults tried to recall their Time 1 decisions. Main Outcome Measures: Percentage of participants who falsely remembered that their original treatment decisions were the same as their current decisions. Results: In Study 1, older adults falsely remembered that 75% of their original decisions were the same as their current decisions; surrogates falsely thought that 86% of older adults' decisions were the same. In Study 2, younger adults falsely remembered that 69% of their original decisions were the same as their current decisions. Conclusion: Age alone cannot account for people's false memories of their end-of-life decisions; we discuss other mechanisms. The results have practical implications for policies that encourage people to make legal documents specifying their end-of-life treatment decisions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Repressed memories: The real story.

Repression exists. Four commentaries by J. Giglio (1998), A. Piper (1998), S. Q. Lilienfeld and E. F. Loftus (1998), and M. Pendergrast (1998) deny the existence of repression. But every psychodynamic therapist regularly observes the phenomenon. Experimental as well as clinical evidence for repression clearly exists; these critics ignore or misrepresent both sources of data. More detailed case history material that shows the phenomena is readily available from current cases. The case in the authors' previous article (B. P. Karon & A. J. Widener, 1997) illustrated the hundreds of cases of WWII veterans who experienced battlefield trauma, repressed the trauma and displayed neurotic symptoms, and experienced alleviation of the symptoms when the trauma was remembered in therapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Desperately seeking memories of the first few years of childhood: The reality of early memories.

How far back into their childhoods can people remember? Previous research suggests that people's earliest memories date back to the ages of 3 or 4 yrs. J. A. Usher and U. Neisser (see record 1993-36251-001) reported that some events, like the birth of a sibling and a planned hospitalization, can be readily remembered if they occurred at age 2 yrs. However, the bits and pieces of such memories that were obtained in their research may not be indicative of genuine episodic memory. An alternative hypothesis is that these apparent memories are the result of educated guesses, general knowledge of what must have been, or external information acquired after the age of 2 yrs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A flow cytometric method for counting very low levels of white cells in blood and blood components

Reduction of white cells (WBCs) in blood components may reduce the risk of virus transmission and HLA alloimmunization. Filtration provides a means by which to achieve high-efficiency WBC reduction. A method has been developed using flow cytometry to quantitate the number of WBCs in WBC-reduced packed red cells or platelet concentrates. This method uses a detergent and propidium iodide (PI) solution to label the WBC nuclei and incorporates a known amount of fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labeled chicken red cells (cRBCs) into the mixture as an indicator of the volume examined. The number of observed WBCs per mL is calculated as follows: Number of PI WBC nuclei events/Number of FITC cRBC events x Number of FITC cRBCs added to mixture/Volume of blood in mixture. The method may allow the detection of WBCs at a concentration as low as 0.01 per microliters (10/mL) in a blood sample. It is an efficient method of collecting data, as it requires less than 10 minutes per sample. This flow cytometric technique is suitable for research purposes and for quality control of WBC-reduced blood components, because it is precise and can be used to quantitate WBCs in large or small numbers in a sample.     

Confusing memories for verbal and nonverbal communication.

In 2 experiments, with 150 undergraduates, emotion portrayed nonverbally in videotaped conversations impaired memory for the specific meaning of utterances. Ss produced more recognition (Exp I) or recall (Exp II) errors that were consistent with the emotional versions they had viewed than errors reflecting other emotions. In Exp I, this effect on recognition memory depended neither on the type of orienting task for nonverbal behaviors (attention to surface characteristics vs interpretations) nor on the length of the retention interval. In Exp II, the number of emotional errors in recall was slightly dependent on the reported moods of the viewers. Findings suggest that emotional interpretations of the nonverbal behaviors of others are associated in memory with the meaning of utterances. Results are discussed in reference to the effects of misleading information and to models of mood and memory. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The spectrum of accuracy in memories of childhood trauma

In the context of public outcry about "false memories" of childhood sexual abuse, many persons with posttraumatic stress disorder are dismayed by their confusion about the historical basis of their intrusive memories. Numerous interacting factors impinge on memory of trauma to yield a broad spectrum of accuracy. In their endeavors to reconstruct coherent narratives of traumatic experience, clinicians and their patients will benefit from thinking in shades of gray rather than in terms of "true" versus "false" memories.     

The traumatic anterior overbite

The position of the anterior teeth and skeletal base relationship establish many of our facial characteristics, yet these same tooth positions can result in a range of dental problems that are often specific for a particular incisal relationship. Excessive loss of tooth tissue on various surfaces may result in trauma to the soft tissue and temporomandibular joint dysfunction. A range of treatment options may be required and can often be conveniently classified by the form of incisal relationship.