Why do I remember things that never happened to me?

Our brains will fill in the gaps in our information to make it make sense in a process called confabulation. Through this, we can remember details that never happened because they help our memory make better sense.

Is it possible to have a memory that didn’t happen?

False memories can happen to anyone. Some people may be more likely to experience them. The good news is most false memories are harmless and may even produce some laughs when your story conflicts with someone else’s memory of it.

Why do I think things that didn’t happen?

False Memory OCD refers to a cluster of OCD presentations wherein the sufferer becomes concerned about a thought that appears to relate to a past event. The event can be something that actually happened (but over which there is some confusion) or it can be something completely fabricated by the mind.

Why do we remember things and forget things?

It’s easy enough to explain why we remember things: multiple regions of the brain — particularly the hippocampus — are devoted to the job. It’s easy to understand why we forget stuff too: there’s only so much any busy brain can handle.

Why do I have random memories that I can’t remember?

It could be because your brain made them up without you noticing and that it is a false memory. It could also be that you picked them up from somewhere else and have forgotten from where and that you have source amnesia.

Is it possible to remember something that never really happened?

It is even possible to remember something that never really happened. In one experiment, researchers showed volunteers images and asked them to imagine other images at the same time. Later, many of the volunteers recalled the imagined images as real.

What happens to your brain when you forget your past?

Brain scans of the impaired participants uncovered no evidence of brain damage or illness, but when they attempted to recall autobiographical details from their pasts, there was less activity in key brain regions associated with autobiographical memory, compared with control participants.