u/montropy

This new memory study seems like it could be relevant to SDAM.

Researchers basically found that memories can survive even after a huge amount of the synaptic structure associated with them disappears.

What seems to matter may be the larger pattern or architecture that remains, not preserving every individual connection.

Which made me think about SDAM.

I’m curious how people here experience emotions related to past events.

When you think about something important from your past, a death in the family, a breakup, a wedding, a great vacation, an embarrassing moment, etc:

1. What exactly are you thinking about when the emotion appears?

- Specific scenes or moments
- Images
- Sounds
- Facts about what happened
- Something else?

2. Do you feel an emotion when you think about it now?

If yes, does it feel like:

- You’re re-experiencing the original emotion from the event
- A new emotion generated in the present because you know what happened
- You’re not sure

3. Can thinking about the event make you cry, laugh, feel nostalgic, anxious, etc.?

4. Do you have:
   - SDAM
   - Visual aphantasia
   - Multi-sensory aphantasia
   - etc

I’m interested because some people seem to report that memories trigger strong emotions, while others mainly remember facts with little or no emotional response.