- Scientists studied how memory works in people.
- They used brain scans called fMRI to watch activity.
- Participants watched short movie clips and stories together.
- Researchers asked if scenes had strong feelings for viewers.
- They also measured pupil size during the scenes.
- Strong feelings made the brain parts join together more.
- When brain parts join, memory stays longer after.
- The study was led by Jadyn Park at university.
- It appears in Nature Human Behavior journal.
- This work could help change traumatic memories for people.
Difficult words
- memory — Ability to keep and remember information or events
- brain scan — Picture of the inside of a person's brainbrain scans
- participant — Person who takes part in a study or experimentParticipants
- pupil — Black part in the center of the eye
- traumatic — Very upsetting and causing strong bad feelings
- measure — To find the size or amount of somethingmeasured
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- Have you ever had a strong memory from a movie scene?
- Do strong feelings help you remember things?
- Do you like to watch short movie clips?
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