THE INTRUSION OF EARLY IMPUCIT MEMORY INTO ADULT CONSCIOUSNESS
Louis Cozolino, Ph.D.
Louis Cozolino, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of world beyond the obsenrational data presently available. Psychology at Pepperdine University in Culver City, Tens of thousands of times during the first year of life, California. an infantexperiences distress and the caretakerappears. The mother, sensitive to her infant's lack ofvisual acuity, brings For reprints write Louis Cozolino, Ph.D., Pepperdine her head close to the child's, makes faces and cooing University, Graduate School of Education and Psychology, sounds, and attempts to evoke a smile. The child's imitative 400 Corporate Pointe, Culver City, CA 90230. smile evokes further smiling and interactions on the part of the mother. Countless times during the first year, the child ABSTRACT is lifted, passed from hand-ta-hand, presented witl1 familiar Through thefirst Jew years ojlife the central andperipheral nervous and unfamiliar faces, dressed, undressed, and cleaned. It is systems grow in an exuberant, non-linearprogression through a series logical to assume that these vitally importantinteractions are ojstructures, organizations, and reorganizations. Evolving senso perceived and stored in a manner consistentwith the devel 'y, memory, and appraisal systems result in transitory modes ojpro opmental stage of peripheral and central nervous system cessingwhich are incorporated, superseded, and/orinhibited &y later structures and networks of learning and memory. developing systems. Because ojthese complexities, little is understood The coordination of the government of neural systems about the phenomenology ojearly experience and its impact on adult (Damasio, 1994) which participate in adult consciousness, functioning. The present paper hypothesizes about some aspects oj depends on considerable filtration ofinformation from both early experience and mernory and theirpossible intrusion into adult inner and outer worlds including memories from early life awareness, using, as an example, reported alien abduction experi (Schacter, 1990). If these primordial memories are, in fact, ences. These experiences are explained as the reinstatement ojpri qualitatively different from adult memories, their break mordial memories ojearly caretaking which are misperceived as occur tl1rough into adult consciousness may not be recognized as ring in the present and interpreted &y later developing, socially memories but rather misperceived as paranormal forms of influenced cortical mechanisms ojlanguage and mernory. experience. Throughout history, individuals have reported visitations from spirits, demons, and, more recently, space INTRODUCTION aliens. While the commonality ofthese reports is often used as proofoftheir veracity (Siegel, 1984), itisjust as likely that The nature ofan infant's experience is cloaked in mys their similarity may arise from shared neurological devel tery. As such, itis the subjectoffascination, speculation, and opment, similar experiences in childhood, and the co-con projection - the ideas which follow are no exception. With struction ofsocially relevant narratives for the unexplained. this in mind, there is considerable neuroanatomical and As an example of me intrusion of early memories into behavioral evidence that infants are not simply small adults. adultconsciousness, the presentthesis proposes mat the phy£ The architecture of the peripheral and central nenrous sy£ ical appearance ofaliens are early visual memories of care tems evolves dramatically over the first few years of life takers as experienced by an immature visual system and through transient structures (Innocenti, 1981) which orga encoded in nascent systems of implicit memory Uacobs & nize and reorganize, resulting in evolving processes of sen adel, 1985; Schaeter, 1996). The aspects ofthe abduction sation, perception, affect, and memory. As such, the nature which involve beinglifted up and physically explored reflect of memories from infancy should reflect available nervous early sensory-vestibular memories ofcaretakingexperiences. system structures of input, processing, and storage. While The extreme emotions, rangingfrom terrorand rage to affec the long-term effects of these early experiences are at the tion, embody the inchoate and dysregulated nature ofprim core ofpsychoanalysis, they are relatively unexplored in neu itive mental states and the biochemisu)' of early bonding. rology and neuroscience. Increasing understanding ofdevel These vestibular, motoric, somatic, visual, and emotional opmental patternsofneural myelinization, connectivity, and memories are linked in subcortical networks ofimplicit mem networking may extend our understanding of the infant's ory and are generally incorporated into or inhibited by later
44 D1SS0Clmo:-;, Vol. X, :>10.1, \larch 1997 dC"eloping cortico-hippocampal system.s ofexplicit memo During this agoni7ing procedure, the nand subsequenl modes ofinfomlation processing. abductee cannOI close his C)'es, nor can he TIle breakthrough of early memories into adult con look a\\'a)·...The aliens can bring out pn> scious awareness may be caused by trnnsient. sub 45 DlSSOCIATIO\. \01. X. \D I. \1ri I", 1991), habituation (Fantz, 1965), pattern recognition (Fantz, ment, depth and spatial relationships (Finkel &Sajda, 1994) Ordy, & Udelf, 1962), and binocular integration (Braddick, slowly become available over d1e first few years of life. The Watunan-Bell, Day, & Atkinson, 1983). The newborn visual increasingsophistication ofvisual processingduring dre first system is innately biased towards complex patterns (Fantz, year reflects d1e gradually increasing participation of corti 1963), circles, and human faces (Fantz, 1961). These biases cal (primary) visual systems (Diamond & Hall, 1969; direct dre infant to learn about aspects ofits world most cru Huttenlocher et aI., 1987;Johnson, 1990) and dre develop cial to survival - d1e enhancement of bonding and safety, ment of the retina. and d1e stimulation ofneural growth and connectivity in sys The phylogenetically older subcortical visual system tems dedicated to familiarity and affective attunement. The involves d1e thalamus, hypod1alamus, and amygdala. Sub infant's visual system differs from the adult's in bodr its cortical ,~sual processing is largely unconscious (Holtzman, peripheral sensory apparatus (retina) and central process 1984) accounting for d1e phenomenon ofblindsight in which ing (d1alamo-cortical circuitry) abilities. asubjectwid1 cortical damage to visual areas orients to a flash The two receptor cells ofd1e retina, rods and cones, have oflightwid10ut awareness ofits presentation (Bridgeman & different developmental timetables and functions: d1e rods, Staggs, 1982; Weiskrantz, Warington, Sanders, & Marshall, which are functional soon after bird1, are achromatic and 1974). Furd1er evidence for d1e existence of subcortically highly lightsensitive, whereas d1e cones, which develop post stored unconscious memory is supported by d1e fact drat natally, are responsible for colorvision and are less sensitive visual stimuli can be stored wid10ut recourse to verballabel to light (Pinel, 1997). At bird1, the fovea (d1e area of dre ing (Bahrick & Boucher, 1968; Cohen & Granstrom, 1970; retinawid1 d1e greatestconcentration ofconesand most pow Levy, Trevarthen, & Sperry, 1972; Taylor, 1969). Prolonged erful visual acuity) is notyetorganized (AbramovetaI., 1982), fixation observed in infants, often terminating with what thus earlyvision is primarilyextra-foveal. Based on the devel appears to be high levels ofdisu'ess, may reflect the inabili opmentofd1e retina alone, vision during d1e first year evolves tyofimmature cortical visual-attention mechanisms to inhib from blurry, peripheral, black and white images, to increas it subcortical orienting responses (Johnson, 1990). This obli ingly clear and colorful images which can be focused on and gatory attention (Stechler & Latz, 1966), coupled with examined direcdy. Because d1e senses ofsmell, touch, hear affective states ofhigh distress, may later reappear as a com ing, balance, andfear are "on-line" atbird1, vision likely devel ponentofshared eye gaze during d1e "mindscan" procedure ops in a multi-sensory, visceral-affective context d1atis linked described byabductees. to d1ese od1er senses in early memory (Stern, 1985). For plimates, "not all ,~sual stimuli are created equal" Some researchers have suggested drat vision in d1e new (Brod1ers, 1992, p. 409). Newborns have a preference for born is controlled exclusively by subcortical structures circles and faces and can track human faces soon after bird1 (Atkinson, 1984; Bronson, 1974). While it is true d1at much (Fantz, 1961; 1963; Goren etal., 1975;Johnson etal., 1991a; cortical growd1 is postnatal (Huttenlocher, 1994) and dre Johnson, Posner, & Rod1blat, 1991b). The focus on circles neonate's cortical responses differ from that of adults primes dre visual system to attend to faces which, in turn, (Ellingson, 1960), fmdings also suggest an interaction ofsub stimulates and builds networks designed to analyze dre famil cortical and cortical sU'uctures in early vision (Burkhalter, iarity (safety) of faces. Research widr primates has demon 1991; Johnson, 1990). The interaction and growd1 of sub strated d1at specific cells in d1e amygdala selectively respond cortical and cortical visual systems are observed in d1e two to faces (Brod1ers, Ring, & Kling, 1990). The considerable networks (or streams) for processing information in d1e visu number of afferent connections to d1e amygdala from dre al cortex, d1e magnocellular (M) and parvocellular (P). The temporal neocortex in adultprimates (Herzog & van Hoesen, M stream, which develops first and appears to be function 1976) reflects d1e function ofnetworks offacial recognition alto some degree at bird1, is characterized by a high degree paired wid1 affective memories ofpleasure, fear, attachment, of contrast sensitivity, low spatial resolution, and low chro and shame (Schore, 1994) and d1eir essential importance matic sensitivity. The latterdeveloping P system has d1e oppo in primate sUT\~val. site characteristics (Burkhalter, 1991). The M and P systems have been described as being spe THE CARETAKER SCENARIO cialized for "location" and "identification," respectively (Schneider, 1969). The sequential development and func Given what has been described drus far concerning d1e tion of d1e M and P processing streams parallels yre tem visual system, imagine (atyour present level ofneural devel poral development ofrods, cones, and d1e fovea. Thus, while opment) being d1e size of an infant lying in a crib. You see the infant has some cortical involvement in orientating to a modrer hovering over you in full color while your cortex d1e "location" of visual stimuli, d1e "identification" (affec adjusts for the angle of her body so you are not shocked tive/survival value) ofearlyvisual stimuli appears to be medi because her head appears as large as d1e rest ofher body or ated primarily by subcortical structures. Od1er analyses d1at d1e top of her head is many times d1e size of her chin. erved by d1e occipital cortex, such as d1e perception ofmove- Though you may have many primitive emotions of atu-ac- 46 DISSOCL\TIOr\. 1'01. X. [\0.1, llarch 199i tion, fear, orrage. rour cortical inhibilOryS)'StenlS keep them (early/implicit) and -Iocale- (late/explicit) to dcscribe outofconsciousness. You can also renl.'Ct on this experience, these twO gener-II memol)'S)'Stcms.Jacobs and Nadel (1985) compare it to others, and haH: the abiliLy LO access and pr~ atuibute the recovcry of fears and phobias b)' indi\iduals cess it at another time, under stress to a breakthrough of early sensor,.~moLional Now 10 regress LO me infant's experience - change the learningstored in the taxon (thalamo-am}"gdala) S}'Stem into clearcolorimage loan achromatic. blurred impression. Take the locale (cortic~hippocampal)S)"Slem, The de\"Clopmcm awa" the sophisticated mcchani5ms of the occipital COrlex of cortical inhibition ensures thai earty memories are kept which keep objects in perspeeti\'C.and onl}'relyon how much out of consciousness through active inhibition as opposed of Ihe retina is stimulated b)' differenL aspects of her face to extinction or loss. As a result, the breakmrough ofearl)' and bod}, This would expand her forehead and eyes and fears leave conscious processes 10 explain their origins and shrink her chin and bod}. Fixate on and enhance me size predict their reoccurrence, leading LO naive amibutions. of the C"es based both on rour \isual S)"Slem's bias Lowards superstitious beh,nior, and the dC\'elopment of phobias. circles and me emotional \-alue of C"CS for safety and dan AlthoughJacobsand Nadel focllsspecificall)'on fearful stim ger as assessed b) s}"Stems of Ihe am}'gdala. Prolonged fl.xa uli, early sensol'\'. motor, and \"I:stibular experiences are tion rna\' al§() add to the enhancement of the memOf}' for stored in these same memory S} terns and are also likely to the eyes and the association ben..·een this \isualmem0'1'and imrude intO adult a\\-areness in situations ofsenSOI)' depri fttlingsofboth attachmelll and terror. Earl)'rubcortical S)"S vation and Stress. terns of implicit memOT)' ma) store these images and feel Because early memories rei}' on circuits which mediate ingswith thesomatic.ll1otor.and \ tibularmemories- being unconscious sensol)"-affecth'e-motor memory, theyappe-M to lifted up, ha\inggenilals cleaned, diapers changed,and tem be similar to traumatic flashbacks (r~xperiencing) in perature taken - in interconnected neural nen..·orks. adults. PTSD \ictims describe flashbacks as multisensory, ego alien, cued b)' sights, smells. sounds, or feelings, and often MULTIPLE MEMORY SYSTEMS occurringin the context ofotherconLemporarysrressors (\'an der Kolk & Creenberg, 1987). In addition. post-traumatic Research supporlS the existence ofmultiple memory S)"S memories (like reported abduction experiences) arc char· Lems, each with ilS 0\\'1 domain of leaming, neural archi acteristicall}' repetiti\'e in nature (\'an del' Kolk, Blitz, Burr, leClllre, and onLageny (Nadel. 1992: Squire, 1987). The two Shcll)'. & Hanman, 1984) suggesting that they arc not sub primary forms of memory ha\'e been described as implicit, jccllO lhe assimilating and contcxLUali2ing propertiesofhip orcarl)' memory. and explicit, or late memoll'. Implicit mem pocampal memory processing and are insLead experienced OIV is processed primarilyolltside ofconscious awareness and as po.....erful scnsor)'~molionale"enrs occurring in llle pre includessensory..motorand affecth'e memory. Explicit mem sem. Ikcau.se lhesc memorics do nOt involve cortico-hip ory requires conscious a\\';.lreness, includes semantic and aUlO pocampal circuitry, they arc noL coupled "ith a memory of biagrnphicalmcmor}',and appears to require the hippocam an obser\'ingsclfand are resistam to extinction (Gloor, 1978; pus for encoding and/or retrie\-al (Siegel, 1996). The LeDoux, Romanski, & Xagoraris, 1989), clearesle"idence for thc discolllinuilyofimpliciL and explic it memory S)'stCIllS lies in the abundance of implicit learn THE AMYGDALOlO NETWORK ing which takes place during the first few years oflife in the absence of memOI)' for facts and events, The amygdala, located in the medial portion ofthc tem.. As .....ith the visual S)'Stem. some componcllls of memo ponl.l lobes, is a ke)' component of early memory s)'Stems 10 are a\'ailable al birth whereas others Lake months or )'ears in\'Olving the anterior lemporal poles and the medial pre ofposmatal dC\"e1opmenlto mature (Nadel & Zola-Morgan, frOlltal cortex. The basolateral portions of the am)'gdala 1984). The gradual developmcnt of explicit and autobio C\'oh'ed in par,dld with the expansion of the cerebral cor.. graphical memory S)'Stems O\'er the first n..·o deCides of life tel' in humans (Slephan & Andy, 19i7), The neurdl con parallels the maturation ofthe hippocampal cortical systems necthil)'ofthe amygdala suggests Lhal it participates in pol)'· (LeDotl.x. 1996). Ovel"".Il1, the ontogeny of mcmory renects sensory integl""dtion \\ith a special emphasis on \ision (\-an the carl)' primacyofimplicit memory forsensory..motor-affec Housen. 1981) and further imegration of the senses V.itll tive learning mediated b)' the am)"gdala. thalamus, and emotional \-alue (leDoux, 1986), Theam}"gdala is ",'ell dC\'eI orbital-medial prefrontal structures wi III the gradual addi.. oped at birth and hasasignificant role in emotion and learn tion of explicit memon' S\"5tems for conscious. contextual.. ing in approach....woidancesitllations ($arLer& Marko\\ilSCh. iled learning mediated \ia cortico-hippocampal ncn..·orks. 1985) for both conditioned and unconditioned stimuli Scantsolid C'idence currentl)'exists concerningthe ways (Da\is. 1992). in which carl\' memories contribute to (or intrude upon) Two circuits ofsensof) input reach the am)'gdala in the laterconscious cognitive processes, In addressing this ques adult: the first connects directlv from me thalamus. while tion, O'Keefe and Nadel (I9i8) use the tenns -!.a.xon- the second loops mrough the cortex and hippocampus and 47 DlSSOCUnO\. \.a. x. \.. 1. Y.dIl!!i then into the amygdala (LeDoux, 1996). The first system limbic-motor circuits (Mogenson, Brudzynski, Wu, Yang, & serves to make rapid survival decisions with a minimum of Yim,1993). information while the second system adds cortical process Douglas and Pribram (1966) suggested that the amyg ing (contextand inhibition) to ongoing beha,~ors.The amyg dala and hippocampus have opposite roles in an "attention dala's direct neural connectivity ,vith the hypothalamus directing process." The role of the amygdala is to heighten (Amaral, Veazey, & Cowan, 1982) and limbic-motor circuits awareness through generalization, whereas the hippocam promotes rapid appraisal, survival responses, and the uncon pus inhibits prepotent responses, attention, and/or stimu scious storage of these experiences. Thus, these direct con lus input (Douglas, 1967; Kimble, 1968; Sherry & Schacter, nectionsgreatly enhance tile involvementofimmediate and 1987) tl1rough the accentuation ofsmall differences between intense somatic activation evidenced in phobias and flash inputs (Marr, 1971). These functions reflect the roles ofthe backs. amygdala and hippocampus in processing memory in taxon The amygdala is likely one of tile key components of (implicit-affective) and locale (explicit-eognitive) memory affective memory in infancy and throughout life (Ross, systems, respectively. Homan, & Buck, 1994). In the fully developed brain, the It is logical to assume that early memory is a powerful amygdala enhances hippocampal memory storage for emo component of internal-unconscious processing which is tional memory through the release of norepinephrine and more likely to intrude into conscious experience in situations glucocorticoids (McGaugh, 1990). Electrical stimulation of of decreasing contextual cues such as hypnogogic or near the amygdala in humans often results in a wide variety of sleep states (Schacter, 1976) and conditions of sensory bodily sensations reflecting its neural connectivity to systems deprivation (Siegel, 1984), both consistently reported by ofphysiological regulation and movement (Halgren, Walter, abductees. Given the reciprocal nature of amygdaloid and Cherlow, & Crandall, 1978). Feelings of anxiety, memory hippocampal circuits, impairment of the hippocampus like hallucinations, and deja vu experiences have also been would lead to an increased influence of the amygdala in reported (Chapman, Walter, Cortical, Rand, & Crandall, directing memory, emotion, and behavior and could result 1967; Penfield & Perot, 1963; Weingarten, Cherlow, & in the disinhibition ofearly polysensory and affective learn Holmgren, 1977). ing. Jacobs & Nadel (1985) assert that "once control has The amygdala's low seizure threshold may result in devolved on the taxon systems, retrieval or sudden relearn increased sensitivity to transient, low-level seizure activity ing pertinentto these previously inaccessible residues ofearly resulting in the reactivation of normally inhibited, remote experience become possible" (p. 518). Hippocampal dam polysensory memories (Sarter & Markowitsch, 1985) unpro age may also result in dysfunctions ofepisodic memory con cessed by the contextualizing hippocampal networks. tributing to perceptual disorganization, decreased reality test Individuals ,vith temporal lobe epilepsy often express ing, and an increased reliance on amygdaloid/taxon extreme religiosity (Benson, 1994) suggesting that stimula processing. tion of the amygdala and other medial temporal structures Primitive affective memory intrusion may also occur in triggers emotional experiences which can be understood as states ofstress and post-traumatic arousal (Jacobs & adel, deeplysignillcant or paranormal. The central nucleus ofthe 1985; van der Kolk & Greenberg, 1987). Individuals \\~th a amygdala has a high density ofopioid receptors (Goodman, history ofstress or present stressful experiences may be par Snyder, Kuhar, & Young, 1980) which are a prime bio ticularlyvulnerable to tile intrusion ofimplicit memories due chemical correlate of bonding and attachment behavior to hippocampal damage and dysfunction. Both sensory (Kalin, Shelton, & Lynn, 1995). Heightened opioid secre deprivation before "contact" and histories ofchronic stress tion during tile breakthrough of these early memories may and depression are commonlyreported byabductees (Stone enhance the "bonding like" quality ofalien-abductee expe Carmen, 1994). rience with concurrent feelings of intense love, safety, and The hippocampus, noted both for its late developmen a sense ofwell-being. tal maturation and sensiti,~ty to traumatic insult, is relative ly unmyelinated until the fifth or sixth year of life ,vith the THE HIPPOCAMPAL NETWORK myelination of cortical-hippocampal circuits continuing into late adolescence (Benes, 1989). The late development The neural connectivity, ontogeny, and evolution oftile of the hippocampus and its connectivity with the cortex hippocampus supports its hypothesized role in the (:onsoli reflect both its delayed functional availability and prolonged dation and contextualization ofexplicit memory in cooper sensitivity to developmental disruption. Research indicate~ ation ,vith the cerebral cortex (Brodal, 1992; Squire, 1992; that sustained stress results in excessive exposure ofthe hip Zola-Morgan & Squire, 1990). Although the hippocampus pocampus to glucocorticoids, a catabolic hormone involved and amygdala have few direct connections, their interaction in the response to acute stress (Sapolsky, 1987). In turn, pro is primarily mediated via tlleir input to the hypothalamic longed exposure to glucocorticoids can result in dendritic pituitary-adrenocortical axis (Jacobson &Sapolsky, 1991) and degeneration (Woolley, Gould, & McEwen, 1990), cell 48 DlSSOClATIOX, 1'01. X. Xo, I, ~Iarch 199i dea!.h, increased vulnerability LO future neurological insuh jety, fear, and the possibility of the inu'usion ofearl)' mem (Packan & Sapolsk)', 1990; Sapo1sky, 1996).and inhibited hip- ories, AnesLhesia of the left hemisphere results in grealer pocampal functioning (~ficco, McEwen. & Shein. 1979). expressions of negati\'e emotion and less pr<>-sociai expla Hippocampal damage correlaLes with deficits of encoding nation ofexperience (Ross eL at, 1994). shon-tenn into long-tenn and episodic memo~' (ScO\ille & Anosognosia is far more frequenl follo\\;ng right versus ~liIner, 1957: Squire. 1992). Patients suffering from POSl left. sided damagesuggesting thal denial ofright hemisphere traumatic stress disorder (Bremner el al.. 1997; Pimlan & processing is characteristic of the left hemisphere mode of Orr. 1990), prolonged depression (Sheline etal.. 1996), lem processingexperience (Galin, 1974). Resean::h \Ooith patients porallobe epilepS)' (de Lanerolle. Kim. Robbins, & Spencer, \Ooith a \'ariet}' ofneurological deficits indicates that the con 1989). schizophrenia (ShelHon el aI., 1992). and Cushing's struction ofsocial narratives, which filler senSOf)' and affec Disease (Slarkman. Gebarski, Berent, & Schleingan, 1992) tive experience for social presenlation, are moSt. oflen ha\'e also been shown lO ha\'e hippocampal cell loss hrporn formed by the left hemisphere (Ross el aI., 1994). Excessive esized to be related lO increased 1C\'clsofglucoconicoidsand filLr.ltion ofrighl hemisphere processingcould result in dis- orner neurotoxins. orderssuch asalexith}1llia (Zeitlin, Line, O'Leary, & Schrift, While indi\;duals \\;!.h ps)'chopathology rna}' be moreml 1989) while inadequale filLr.ltion ofrighl hemisphere pro nerable to !.he imnlsion ofearl}' memories, common pauems cessing mal' result in lhe disruption ofrealil),testing and the ofneuraldevelopment and life experiencesuggest that most coherence of cognitive and affecti\'C processing as seen in people share !.he types of memories which become disin schizophrenia (Rotenberg, 1994). Thus. mental health hibiled in some inrlil;duals \Oo'ho rcport alxluction experi seemsto ilwol\'e a balanceofcommunication and inhibition enccs. Abductee and non-abductees mal' differ in the qual bet\Oo'een the cerebral hemisphcres. it\- of conico-hippocampa1 inhibitory functions and other It ",'ould appear that the left cerebral hemisphere propertiesofmemoryas well as theirattributionsofthe intru attempts LO make sense Ollt ofnonsense reflecting the basic sion ofprimiti\'e Slates intoconsciousawareness, TIlese attri human motivation to cng-Age in explanatorybeha\ior (Banaji butional processes lead to theconslnlction ofthe alxluction & Kihlstrom, 1996), The left cerebral hemisphere is ~emi narratil'c, nently equipped LO pro\;de rationalizations~(van der Kolk, 1993, p, 223) for experiences and rcactions which appear CREATING THE ABDUCflON NARRATIVE: discontinuous \\ith other aspects ofrealil)' testing. This con THE ROLE OFTHE LEFT HE~flSPHERE cept has previously been used LO explain the development of pamnormal beliefs and cxperiences (Persinger, 1983, The neurology liLerature is repleLe with disruptions of 1992, 1993; Siegel, 1984), schizophrenic delusional systems !.he continuityand organization ofconscious experiencesec (Maher, 1974; Nasmllah, 1985) and thede\'elopmentofreli ondary to a variety oftrauma (Benson, 1994), Symptoms of gious beliefs in the face ofLlle unknown (Gazzaniga, 1985), neglect, anosognosia (a denial of a gross neurological The \'erbal, left. neocortex organizes conscious experience dcficil), and confabulation, as well as sepamtiollS ofconscious (Gazzaniga, 1985; Nasmllah, 1985), and embodies the ~social a\\'areness in dissociath'e and commissurotomy patients, sclr as arbiter of rules, expectaLions, and socio-emotional reveal divisions ofawareness and hemispberic differences in present,ation (Ross et al.. 1994). The construetion ofa social cognitive and afTectin: processing strdtegies (leDoux, Wilson, narmtivc is;u work to some degree in tile confabulations of & Gazzaniga. 1977: Sperry, 1968), For most individuals, the stroke patientsand schizophrenics, the defense mechanisms right hemisphere appears to process infonnation in an holis of neurotic, and the day-tOOay conSlnletion of realil)' in tic-5)llcretic fashion (Galin, 1974; Lt.,,)' eL aI., 1972) with direct healthy indh'iduals, This same process most likely explains connections to the \iscera and limbic bmin (Schore, 1994), the creation ofalxluction narrdth'es seconda~' to the intru The left hemisphcre processes information in a linear, lan sion ofearly memorie , guage-bascd manner, capableoffiltering input from the right hemisphere (Galin, 1974), The hemispheres appear to com CONCLUSION municate primarily \ia Lhe corpus callosum (Innocenti, 1981). TIle left hemisphcre appears togm'em consciouscop To re\iew, I suggest that the alien abduction narrati\'e ing and problem-sohing abilities while functioning primar is a confabulatory explanation of intrusions of primordial ilv in the middle mnge of affect, TIle right hemisphere is memories into consciousadult awareness. Theseearly mem more imuh'ed in uJ"\ival situations. the rdpid and uncon oriesare productsofcircuitry and processing capacil)' ofthe scious emotional appraisal of emironmental stimuli, and available neural S)'Stems during the first }'eaT oflife.Thecapa functioning in theconleXt ofin Lenseemotion (Schore,I994), bilities and biases ofearl}' S)'Stems of\;sion accoum for the Decreased functioning ofthe left. hemisphere during depres ph}'Sical appearance ofaliens while early (implicit) memo ~ion (Baxter et al.. 1989) mal' caUoSt a decreased inhibition ry S)'Stems accoulll for the association of these \uual mem ofright hemisphere processing, resulting in elevation ofaru:- ories \\;th vestibular, motor, sensory, and emotional memo- 49 Dl5SOClmO\, \.a. x. \.. I. ~ Itr. INTRUSION OF EARLY IMPLICIT MEMORY ries from that time. When these early memories intrude into Atkinson,]. (1984). Human visual development over the first six adult awareness as "anomalous" experiences, they are inter months of life: A review and a hypothesis. Human Neurobiology, 3, preted by the adultbrain in a confabulatory manner designed 61-74. to reduce anxiety by makingsense outofnonsense. This phe Bahrick, H.P., & Boucher, B. (1968). Retention ofvisual and ver nomenon closely parallels what is seen in a variety of neu bal codes of the same stimuli. journal ofExperimental Psychology, 78, rological and psychiatric disorders which disrupt the coher 417-422. ence ofconscious processing. The data used to support the various components ofthis theorywere drawn primarilyfrom Banaji, M.R, & Kihlstrom,J-F. (1996). The ordinary nature ofalien developmental neuroscience and neurology. abduction memories. PsychologicalInquiry, 7 (2),132-135. An understandingofthe relationship between earlyexpe Baxter, L.R, Schwartz,].M., Phelps, M.E., Mazziotta,].C., Guze, B. riences and adultconsciousness requires the discovery ofthe H., Selin, C.E., Gerner, R.H., & Sumida, RM. (1989). Reduction nature of the processing capacities available to the infant. ofprefrontal cortex glucose metabolism common to three types of While psychoanalysis has explored this from a phenomen depression. Archives ofGeneral Psychiatry, 46, 243-250. ological and theoretical viewpoint, the addition ofa neuro Benes, F.M. (1989). Myelination ofcortical-hippocampal relays dur logical perspective may prove enlightening. The correctness ing late adolescence. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 15 (4), 585-593. of the proposed relationship between early implicit memo ry and alien abduction experiences is of little actual impor Benson, F.D. (1994). The neurology ofthinking. New York: Oxford tance. Itserves the purpose oftaking a popularphenomenon University Press. and using it to help students remember some basic concepts Braddick, 0., Wattman-Bell,]., Day,]., & Atkinson,]. (1983). The in neurology and neuroscience. Whatis more important, and onset ofbinocular function in human infants. HumanNeurobiology, the primary thrust of the present work, is the attempt to 2,65-69. understand human experience utilizing a developmental biopsychosocial model in an interdisciplinary context. The Braddick, 0., Wattman-Bell,]., & Atkinson,]. (1986). Orientation reunification of psychological and neurological models is specific cortical responses develop in early infancy. Nature, 320, 617 619. breathing new life into psychological theorizing and treat ment. 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