Did Dissociative Amnesia Evolve?
Adaptation
Dissociative amnesia
Evolution
Gene frequencies
Memory
Trauma
Journal
Topics in cognitive science
ISSN: 1756-8765
Titre abrégé: Top Cogn Sci
Pays: United States
ID NLM: 101506764
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
21 Jun 2023
21 Jun 2023
Historique:
revised:
24
03
2023
received:
09
11
2022
accepted:
03
04
2023
medline:
21
6
2023
pubmed:
21
6
2023
entrez:
21
6
2023
Statut:
aheadofprint
Résumé
Dissociative amnesia is a diagnosis category that implies a proposed mechanism (often called dissociation) by which amnesia is caused by psychogenic means, such as trauma, and that amnesia is reversible later. Dissociative amnesia is listed in some of the most influential diagnostic manuals. Authors have noted the similarities in definition to repressed memories. Dissociative amnesia is a disputed category and phenomenon, and here I discuss the plausibility that this cognitive mechanism evolved. I discuss some general conditions by which cognitive functions will evolve, that is, the relatively continuous adaptive pressure by which a cognitive ability would clearly be adaptive if variation produced it. I discuss how adaptive gene mutations typically spread from one individual to the whole species. The article also discusses a few hypothetical scenarios and several types of trauma, to examine the likely adaptive benefits of blocking out memories of trauma, or not. I conclude that it is unlikely that dissociative amnesia evolved, and invite further development of these ideas and scenarios by others.
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Informations de copyright
© 2023 The Authors. Topics in Cognitive Science published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Cognitive Science Society.
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