# memory under hypnosis **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 8, 2005, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memory-under-hypnosis/302982 "2005-05-08T23:23:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![oliverar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/dbc845/32.png) [@oliverar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oliverar)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2005, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memory-under-hypnosis/302982/1 "2005-05-08T23:23:30Z")
It is sometimes claimed by fans of the paranormal and suchlike that under hypnosis it is possible to recall memories of all events/words/places etc in amazing detail, including things we took in subconsciously/subliminally at the time such as printed notices on the wall etc… Is it true your brain really stores all this info - or more likely, as a scientist friend was saying to me, that the brain is meant to store a lot of stuff in a rather vague, hazy way so as to save space and not clutter it up unnecessarily. Maybe the amount of detail etc relates to the interest and/or emotional charge associated with the event/information? Maybe for lots of humdrum days no info is stored at all? Having said that I guess there are actually loads of memories in there somewhere that we may not recall to mind for years, or ever, till maybe something triggers them. Linked to that I guess it makes sense to ask if there is a limit to what we can put in our brains? Do you get to a point where some memories/pieces of knowledge have to go to make room for more? ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memory-under-hypnosis/302982/2 "2005-05-09T00:07:40Z")
Ok, here’s the short version: 1. The human memory is not all that reliable. People often get confused about the details, and most people have somewhat inefficient recall mechanisms. People are built to react quickly when needed, so we often fill in the gaps of memory before we actually get the information back out of our heads. 2. The brain has immense storage. If you have a lot of time to go back and think about it, you can recall an awful lot of information you never knew you had: the names of your 7th birthday party guests, a diagram from an old geology book, the history of France, etc. It’s all in there once you learn it, assuming it was taken into your long-term memory. But bringing it out takes months of thought, sometimes. Some prisoners of war, who have that kind of time, develop impressive recall about things you and I might not remember, simply because they have the time to sit and think about what has happened, and no rush to finish in a month or a year. 1. Hypnosis isn’t reliable. It won’t enhance your mnemonic powers, and often simply results in you doing (1) while thinking your doing (2). And think about: isn’t it just a wee bit suspicious that so many of these recovered memeories are something awesome and dramatic, like sex abuse, murders, and what-have-you? People often don’t want to admit these things - but they don’t forget without undergoing serious mental illness. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memory-under-hypnosis/302982/3 "2005-05-09T00:38:55Z")
It’s an appealing notion that the brain is a perfect recorder and stores details that we weren’t consciously aware of at the time, but although it’s very convenient in movies and TV shows, AFAIK, there’s no evidence that such a thing is possible. First off, hypnotism is bunk. According to the [Skeptic’s Dictionary](http://www.skepdic.com/hypnosis.html): > [@](#): > > We know that a person under hypnosis is very suggestible and that memory is easily “filled-in” by the imagination and by suggestions made under hypnosis. We know that confabulation is quite common while under hypnosis and that many States do not allow testimony which has been induced by hypnosis because it is intrinsically unreliable. We know the greatest predictor of hypnotic responsiveness is what a person believes about hypnosis. Second, the notion that we can remember anything before the age of three has been disproven: > [@](#): > > The left inferior prefrontal lobe is undeveloped in infants, but is required for long-term memory. The elaborate encoding required for classifying and remembering such an event cannot occur in the infant’s brain. Finally, it has been shown experimentally that [false memories can be easily implanted.](http://faculty.washington.edu/eloftus/Articles/sciam.htm) > [@](#): > > My students and I have now conducted more than 200 experiments involving over 20,000 individuals that document how exposure to misinformation induces memory distortion. In these studies, people “recalled” a conspicuous barn in a bucolic scene that contained no buildings at all, broken glass and tape recorders that were not in the scenes they viewed, a white instead of a blue vehicle in a crime scene, and Minnie Mouse when they actually saw Mickey Mouse. Taken together, these studies show that misinformation can change an individual’s recollection in predictable and sometimes very powerful ways. > [@oliverar](#): > > Do you get to a point where some memories/pieces of knowledge have to go to make room for more? I’m guessing you’re less than 35 years old. I’m 50, and living proof that this happens. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memory-under-hypnosis/302982/4 "2005-05-09T01:00:53Z")
> [@oliverar](#): > > Maybe the amount of detail etc relates to the interest and/or emotional charge associated with the event/information? Yes, memories which are formed while under stress are stronger and more detailed, and the effect is linear: the greater the stress, the stronger and more detailed the memory. My father was the first person to identify this phenomenon, and published his findings in _Acta Psychologica_ in 1973. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memory-under-hypnosis/302982/5 "2005-05-09T01:23:35Z")
**commasense** , hypnosis isn’t bunk–monomania is a real and useful function of the human brain-- but the idea that it can be used to improve your memory of a certain event is false. In the hypnosis classes I took in college (taught by the then-president of the Assn to Advance Ethical Hypnosis) it was explained that people in a suggestive state are already inclined to agree with whatever the hypnotizer says, and so will make up stories rather than disappoint the person they’re concentrating on.