HOW RAPE IMPACTS MEMORY, AND WHY COPS NEED TO BE AWARE OF THIS BRAIN SCIENCE

Edited by, SNEHA MAVIS

According to trauma and memory experts, it is normal for sexual assault survivors as well as survivors of other major traumas to be unable to fully recall an attack. They may remember some facts but not others, or they may fail to recollect events in the correct order. According to scholars and advocates for sexual assault survivors, when law enforcement officials are unaware of the neuroscience of trauma or have no training to cope with it, they have a tendency to ignore or disbelieve victims who experience memory gaps.

The Survival Mode of the Brain:

When confronted with a crisis, the brain's "fight, flight, or freeze" response is often triggered. According to Hopper, the brain's "defence circuitry" takes command in these situations. The prefrontal cortex, which is in charge of logical decision-making, has lost control, and parts of the brain responsible for scanning for danger have taken over. Some people react by mentally "dissociating," or disconnecting themselves from their physical selves. According to Hopper, the survival response impairs one's ability to absorb what is going on around them.

Research on memory and recall during a traumatic incident describe two types of details: central and peripheral. Central details are those that capture our attention and elicit emotions in the moment, such as location. Peripheral details are those that a survivor may not have noticed during the crisis, such as something the attacker said or whether other people were present. Central details tend to be stored more reliably and for longer than peripheral details.

Survivors are sometimes unable to answer what appears to be an easy question if it involves a minor detail such as the colour of the attacker's shirt. And, according to Hopper, this can make officers suspicious.

Hopper, who testifies in sexual assault trials, claims that victims are frequently held to harsh standards, especially when compared to other trauma survivors. According to victim advocates and criminal justice researchers, it is critical for detectives to be open to anything a survivor says, whenever they say it, even if those details were not available in an initial report, because the information survivors supply afterwards can be crucial in solving the crime.