How the brain divides daily memories into ‘movie-like’ scenes

New research has discovered how the brain organizes daily experiences into meaningful segments, much like scenes in a movie. As we perceive life as a continuous stream, our brains automatically divide memories into discrete moments. Scientists have long debated whether these boundaries are determined by environmental changes or whether they are determined by personal interpretation. Now, a study led by Christopher Baldassano, associate professor of psychology at Columbia University, suggests that the brain actively chooses these transitions based on our goals and experiences, offering new insights into memory formation.

How does the brain determine where one memory ends and another begins?

To investigate this, Baldassano and his team conducted a brain scanning experiment using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Volunteers listened to stories about different scenarios, such as a business deal, a proposal and a breakup, while their brain activity was reduced. included. The research focused on changes in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), a brain region involved in processing ongoing events.

The results showed that when important social events occurred in the stories, such as closing a business deal, brain activity spiked, indicating a mental shift. Interestingly, when participants were instructed to focus on specific details such as locations, their brain activity adapted, demonstrating how attention can change the way we segment experiences.

The impact of attention on memory formation

The study too found that participants remembered details they focused on, but often forgot parts they shouldn’t. This highlights how flexible memory is and how our attention shapes what we remember. David Clewett, an assistant professor of cognitive psychology at UCLA, noted that the findings show that we have significant control over how we interpret and remember events. Clewett believes that focusing on key moments could improve memory retention, which could be especially useful in treating conditions like PTSD and dementia.

This research opens up new possibilities for understanding how memory works, suggesting that by consciously directing our focus, we can better control how we store and remember our experiences.