WHAT IS TRAUMATIC MEMORY?

Background. The issue of traumatic memory representation is comparatively new. Notwithstanding  its significance, the first researches  began to emerge at the end of the twentieth century. The Oxford Dictionary of Psychology connects the concept of traumatic memory with traumatic neurosis (neurosis precipitated by trauma, which was introduced and analyzed by the German neurologist Hermann Oppenheim in 1889) and post-traumatic stress disorder (an anxiety arising as a delayed and protracted response after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event involving actual or threatened death or serious injury to self or others) (Colman 2003).

The theory of lexical field suggests defining and understanding the construct by considering its opposite.  Just as we can better understand the traumatic memory by considering non-traumatic memory.

The study and discussion. In this article we examine traumatic memory comparing it with autobiographical memory and PTSD. We begin examining the origins of the traumatic memory as a part of autobiographical one. We identify the neuropsychological and cognitive structure of autobiographical and traumatic memory and define the way of preventing the latter from transmitting in PTSD (Fig.1).

Autobiographical memory is defined as a memory of self-engaging in the past event that it is linked to the present (Rubin, 2005). There are two main approaches to the study of autobiographical memory: neurocognitive approach (Rubin, 2005) and social and cultural perspective for the processing of autobiographical information (Conway, 2005,  2009,  Nourkova, 2010).

Figure 1. Locating the traumatic memory

Rubin et al. (2005) examine the neuropsychological basis for autobiographical memory and find out the distinct areas in brain for autobiographical information processing.

Moscovitch (2012) argues that the main brain subsystem for autobiographical network is hippocampus. The main idea of his research is interaction of hippocampus with other brain areas for information consolidation and reconsolidation. Basing on Tulving’s model, Moscovitch proposed idea that the hippocampus allows re-experiencing of an autobiographical event and gives way to “mental time travel” recollecting the past and imagining the future.

Cognitive modal was introduced as a conceptual schema for autobiographical memory and emphasizes the role of self-memory system (Conway, 2005).    There are some levels in the modal: event specific knowledge (individual representation of experience), temporal link period (temporally defines period of life), conceptual self (social constructed schema that defines self, other people and interaction with the world).  Event specific knowledge and temporal link period coincides with episodic memory in Tulving’s modal, whereas the conceptual self coincides with semantic memory.

Jobson (2009) demonstrates that children and adults from individualistic structures provide more lengthy, autonomous, detailed and self-focused memories, based on individual experience. Representatives from collective cultures provide narratives with collective activities, social interactions and neutral events.

Conway (2005) argues that conceptual self is culturally generic knowledge. It is in line with research of Russian scholar Nourkova (2010). She defines the autobiographical memory as cognitive process which is determined predominantly by social interaction and cultural and language practices. Following the idea that traumatic memory is a part of autobiographical memory, we attempt to examine it from the neuropsychological (hippocampus and neocortex memory representations vs. amygdala activation with PTSD) perspective; cognitive perspective (episodic and semantic knowledge) and cultural perspective (conceptual self as culturally generic knowledge).

Conclusion. There is no doubt that the field of traumatic memory will develop in future years, built on careful observations, development of micromodels as an act of synthesizing such observations and explaining in terms of neuropsychological, cognitive, social and cultural theories. The main challenge is to move beyond the focus on traumatic memory as a part of autobiographical memory to broader applied context:  prevention of its transforming into PTSD and reorganizing it in autobiographical event specific knowledge and developed conceptual self.

References:

1. Colman, A. (2003). Oxford Dictionary of Psychology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
2. Conway, M. A.   (2005). Memory and the self // Journal of Memory and Language, 53, 594-628.
3. Conway, M. A., & Pleydell-Pearce, C. W. (2000). The construction of autobiographical memories in the self-memory system, Psychological Review, 107(2), 261-288.
4. Jobson, L. (2009). Drawing current posttraumatic stress disorder models into the cultural sphere: the development of the threat to the conceptual self modal,Clinical psychology Review, 29, 368-381.
5. Moscovitch, M. (2012).The contribution of research of autobiographical memory to past and present theories of memory consolidation. In D. Berntsten and D. Rubin (eds.), Understanding Autobiographical Memory (pp. 91-111). New York: Cambridge University Press.
6. Nourkova, V. V. and Bernstein, D. M. (2010). Why historical becomes personal? Spontaneous historical content of individual autobiographical memory. In Y. Zinchenko and V. Petrenko (eds.), Psychology of Russia: state of the art (pp. 1-21). Moscow: Lomonosov State University.
7. Rubin, D. (2005). A basic system approach to autobiographical memory. Current divisions in psychological Science, 14 (2), 79-83.
8. Tulving, E. (1983). Elements of episodic memory. New York: Oxford University Press