As a result, daily events are more likely to be stored in memory as generic representations rather than as individual memories for specific events. The lack of distinctive life events during the lockdown made it difficult for us to retrieve episodic pandemic memories. In the first few weeks of social isolation, participants’ memory improved. Therefore, when we attempt to retrieve information from memory, we experience more interference between competing memory traces and worse overall memory. Variety, the spice of lifeAlthough experiencing lockdown-related memory problems may have been alarming, these problems were most likely a consequence of normal memory processes under abnormal circumstances.

Source: New York Times September 18, 2022 21:22 UTC