Flashbulb memory

Biological Parallel

Extreme arousal tags experiences for permanent storage through stress hormone release—the amygdala's documentation system for pattern-breaks requiring future avoidance. Orphaned African elephants who witnessed family members killed by poachers display PTSD-like symptoms decades later: abnormal startle responses, hyper-aggression, and persistent fear, with the highly developed hippocampus encoding contextual details of trauma. Laboratory mice exposed to foot shock remember exact cage location, lighting, and ambient smells with strong contextual accuracy months later, driven by norepinephrine and cortisol modulating amygdala-hippocampus circuits. The adaptive logic is crisis documentation: encoding contextual details of extreme events helps recognize early warning signs. The paradox: these flashbulb memories feel more accurate than they actually are—stress hormones enhance encoding vividness but not factual precision.