# The weight of evidence regarding the nature of traumatic memories: A comment on Mazzoni et al.

Ivan Mangiulli, Marko Jelicic, Mark L Howe, Lawrence Patihis, Olivier Dodier, Rafaële Huntjens, Elisa Krackow, Steven Jay Lynn, Henry Otgaar

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Ivan Mangiulli, Marko Jelicic, Mark L Howe, Lawrence Patihis, Olivier Dodier, et al. The weight of evidence regarding the nature of traumatic memories: A comment on Mazzoni et al.. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 2025, 30 (S1), pp.103-105. 10.1111/lcrp.1_12273. hal-05066571

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Submitted on 21 May 2025

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DEBATE

# The weight of evidence regarding the nature of traumatic memories: A comment on Mazzoni et al.

Ivan Mangiulli<fnref n="1" />,<fnref n="2" /> | Marko Jelicic<fnref n="3" /> | Mark L. Howe<fnref n="4" /> | Lawrence Patihis<fnref n="5" /> |

Olivier Dodier<fnref n="6" /> | Rafaële Huntjens<fnref n="7" /> | Elisa Krackow<fnref n="8" /> | Steven

Jay Lynn<fnref n="9" /> | Henry Otgaar<fnref n="2" />,<fnref n="3" />

Correspondence

Ivan Mangiulli, Department of Education, Psychology, Communication, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Via Scipione Crisanzio, 46, 70122 Bari, Italy.

Email: ivan.mangiulli@uniba.it

The ongoing debate about the nature of traumatic memories has engaged numerous scholars, each providing evidence either for or against special properties that distinguish such memories from other emotional memories. Mazzoni et al. (2025) offered a balanced and comprehensive perspective concerning the topic of traumatic memories. On the one hand, they pointed out that numerous clinical observations, and supposedly the results of some neurobiological studies, have shown that traumatic memories often lack verbal content and are accompanied by intense bodily sensations, making them special in this regard (Brewin, 2016; Solms, 2018; Van der Kolk, 1998). These observations have led to interpretations of these findings as representing dissociative amnesia or repressed memories. On the other hand, researchers (McNally, 2007; Merckelbach & Patihis, 2018) have contended that scientific data do not consistently support the special nature of traumatic memories or the frequent occurrence of amnesia for a given event (Mangiulli et al., 2022; McNally, 2003; Otgaar et al., 2019). Instead, the lack of clear evidence supporting dissociation from (or repression of) traumatic memories contrasts with substantial data suggesting that negative and stressful experiences enhance, rather than impair, memory (Shields et al., 2017). Even if differences in characteristics exist between traumatic and non-traumatic memories, it does not necessarily implicate dissociation or repression as a cause or consequence.

Overall, there is much to appreciate in Mazzoni et al. (2025). Their paper took a middle ground in the debate, considering evidence from opposing perspectives, and assessing merits and flaws in relation to both sides. Yet even with this open-minded approach, it is crucial to stress that not all evidence carries equal weight. For instance, a primary source of evidence for which traumatic memories

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2025 The Author(s). *Legal and Criminological Psychology* published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society.

<footnote n="1">¹University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy</footnote>

<footnote n="2">²KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium</footnote>

<footnote n="3">³Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands</footnote>

<footnote n="4">⁴City, University of London, London, UK</footnote>

<footnote n="5">⁵University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK</footnote>

<footnote n="6">⁶University of Nimes, Nimes, France</footnote>

<footnote n="7">⁷University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands</footnote>

<footnote n="8">⁸West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA</footnote>

<footnote n="9">⁹Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY, USA</footnote>
Zago, S., Preti, A. N., Difonzo, T., D'Errico, A., Sartori, G., Zangrossi, A., & Bolognini, N. (2023). Two case of malingering crime-related amnesia. *Topics in Cognitive Science*. https://doi.org/10.1111/tops.12643

**How to cite this article:** Mangiulli, I., Jelicic, M., Howe, M. L., Patihis, L., Dodier, O., Huntjens, R., Krackow, E., Lynn, S. J., & Otgaar, H. (2025). The weight of evidence regarding the nature of traumatic memories: A comment on Mazzoni et al. *Legal and Criminological Psychology, 30*(Suppl. 1), 103–105. https://doi.org/10.1111/lcrp.1_12273

## DEBATE

# Comment on G. Mazzoni et al. ‘Taking the middle stance in the debate on the nature of traumatic memories’

Hans J. Markowitsch<fnref n="1" /> | Angelica Staniloiu<fnref n="1" />,<fnref n="2" />

Mazzoni et al. (2023) adhere—as already the title of their paper indicates – to a ‘middle stance in the debate on the nature of traumatic memories’—neither fish nor fowl. In general, they stress the role of traumatic memories and also use the terms ‘amnesia’ and ‘dissociation’, but never mention ‘dissociative amnesia’. At one occasion, they write, however, that ‘these memories [= traumatic memories] are characterised by … psychogenic amnesia’. Insofar, they seem to limit their view to the processing of traumatic memories as such. Initially, they introduce the trauma definition of the DSM-5 (APA, 2013), but later in their text, they broaden the term widely (see also Pettus, 2023).

With respect to the stress hormone thesis of the authors, this not only follows an inverted U-shape during memory consolidation, as the authors state but also can be interpreted differently, as we have done in several publications. Stress hormone receptors are highest in the amygdala and hippocampal region, where they can suppress a synchronised emotion–memory-related action of these regions during memory retrieval. Consequently, a stress hormone-related suppressed action of these regions in the right temporo-frontal hemisphere can result in a suppression or blockade of episodic-autobiographical memory retrieval (Brand et al., 2009; Staniloiu et al., 2011; Staniloiu & Markowitsch, 2010).

In our eyes, it is especially important to divide memory into episodic-autobiographical and semantic (or fact-like) memory (e.g. Markowitsch et al., 2023; Staniloiu et al., 2018; Staniloiu et al., 2020a; Staniloiu et al., 2020b; Staniloiu & Markowitsch, 2020), and not to speak of declarative memory, as Mazzoni et al. do. This, because usually only the episodic-autobiographical memory system is (retrogradely) impaired, while the semantic memory system still works normally (e.g. see figure 2 in Staniloiu & Markowitsch, 2014, or figure 1 in Markowitsch et al., 2023, or in Markowitsch & Staniloiu, 2022).

<footnote n="1">¹Physiological Psychology, University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany</footnote>

<footnote n="2">²Oberbergklinik Hornberg, Hornberg, Germany</footnote>