Chris Coons) asking similar questions about the supplemental background investigation-this one, sent to the FBI in August 2019. The letter is a response to an even older request sent by Whitehouse (and Sen. On Wednesday morning, Whitehouse’s office released a June 30 letter from FBI Assistant Director Jill C. 'When you reconstruct your memory, there's a lot of factors influencing what and how you will remember,' Dr Van Golde said.It is, in a sense, hard to be horrified by the explicit confirmation from the FBI that this was indeed a sham investigation, simply because much of this was known at the time and more has emerged since.Īnd it seems he has finally gotten at least some answers. She also said our brains are capable of unconscious self-manipulation, whereby memories that don't fit without our self-image give way to those that do confirm and support that image. So, is it possible for both versions of events to be correct in each person's mind?ĭr Van Golde said if the event in question was 'not a very remarkable event' for Mr Kavanaugh, he may not remember it at all. Can people remember the same event differently?ĭr Ford and Mr Kavanaugh have both stated with '100 per cent certainty' that their memory of what happened is correct. ' how she got home, or who exactly else was there besides the alleged perpetrators, that is a little bit more cloudy and she forgot all those details,' she said. 'We saw that she could recount all the very central traumatising details, in really good, specific detail. 'I think Ford's testimony was a really nice demonstration of that,' she said. Lecturer in psychology at the University of Sydney Dr Celine Van Golde told The Signal in cases of highly emotional or traumatising events, like a sexual assault, we are better at remembering the central details than peripheral details. 'Indelible in the hippocampus is the laughter - the uproarious laughter between the two - and their having fun at my expense,' Professor Ford said in her testimony to the US Senate. Sound is also an element that comes through strongly in the recall of traumatic events. 'If you were assaulted and somebody was using some cologne or perfume, you may remember the smell and you may have very strong automatic reactions to the smell throughout your life.' 'You remember very vividly, very strongly, some elements of it - you may remember a smell. 'It perfectly fits what we understand about traumatic memories, or memories of trauma,' he said. 'What norepinephrine does is … strengthens the memories - it kind of locks the memories.' Ford's testimony backed by the science

'Epinephrine and cortisol are very important players in memory formation,' Dr Debiec said. Inside the brain, the amygdala detects danger and sends a signal to the hypothalamus at the top of the spine, which releases stress hormones.Ī key part of this process is the spread of the hormone norepinephrine in the brain. ' a situation when our life is threatened, that's the time when we are ready to struggle for life.'ĭr Debiec said the chemicals that flood the brain in moments of trauma or high stress when a 'fight or flight' response is triggered make memories of that event particularly vivid.

'What is different about trauma is the state that we are in.

Psychiatrist and neuroscientist at the University of Michigan Jacek Debiec told RN Breakfast the most vivid memories we have are in moments of high stress and trauma. But is it possible neither Dr Ford nor Mr Kavanaugh are lying about what happened that night in 1982?

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