--- title: Why Rape and Trauma Survivors Have Fragmented and Incomplete Memories description: In the midst of assault, the brain's fear circuitry takes over while other key parts are impaired or even effectively shut down. This is the brain reacting to a life-threatening situation just the way it is supposed to canonical: https://time.com/3625414/rape-trauma-brain-memory/ author: TIME article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-09T18:33:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:44:48.549Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Why Rape and Trauma Survivors Have Fragmented and Incomplete Memories og:description: In the midst of assault, the brain's fear circuitry takes over while other key parts are impaired or even effectively shut down. This is the brain reacting to a life-threatening situation just the way it is supposed to og:url: https://time.com/3625414/rape-trauma-brain-memory/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt618624d819cdcba2/69876da30b72e307176dc78e/460059256.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3060 og:image:height: 1721 og:image:alt: University Of Virginia Fraternity At Center Of Disputed Rolling Stone Magazine Story On Alleged Gang Rape Incident og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why Rape and Trauma Survivors Have Fragmented and Incomplete Memories twitter:description: In the midst of assault, the brain's fear circuitry takes over while other key parts are impaired or even effectively shut down. This is the brain reacting to a life-threatening situation just the way it is supposed to twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt618624d819cdcba2/69876da30b72e307176dc78e/460059256.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why Rape and Trauma Survivors Have Fragmented and Incomplete Memories > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Inside TIME: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Inside TIME is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories. Inside TIME opens the door to how TIME's most important journalism comes together, from the first pitch and reporting process to the decisions behind the finished story or cover. 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Readers select it, along with any of TIME's other newsletters, at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=ddf987cb-64a7-4a5c-bda7-510a942b3255&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1). * TIME's newsletter network reaches more than 1.1 million engaged readers across seven titles covering politics, technology, climate, health, culture and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/subscribe?i=ddf987cb-64a7-4a5c-bda7-510a942b3255&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What is Inside TIME? Inside TIME is a twice-weekly newsletter written by TIME Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs. It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ## Video: Don Lemon Asks Bill Cosby Rape Accuser Why She Didn’t Prevent Her Assault [Watch (HLS stream): Don Lemon Asks Bill Cosby Rape Accuser Why She Didn’t Prevent Her Assault](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/QUjWMvFf.m3u8) (0:21)  _Published 2014-11-19. Don Lemon Asks Bill Cosby Rape Accuser Why She Didn’t Prevent Her Assault_ by [James Hopper](https://time.com/author/james-hopper/) and [David Lisak](https://time.com/author/david-lisak/) Dec 9, 2014 6:33 PM UTC  The Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house is seen on the University of Virginia campus on December 6, 2014 in Charlottesville, Virginia. The Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house is seen on the University of Virginia campus on December 6, 2014 in Charlottesville, Virginia. Jay Paul—Getty Images by [James Hopper](https://time.com/author/james-hopper/) and [David Lisak](https://time.com/author/david-lisak/) Dec 9, 2014 6:33 PM UTC A door opens and a police officer is suddenly staring at the wrong end of a gun. In a split second, his brain is hyper-focused on that gun. It is very likely that he will not recall any of the details that were irrelevant to his immediate survival: Did the shooter have a moustache? What color was the shooter’s hair? What was the shooter wearing? The officer’s reaction is not a result of poor training. It’s his brain reacting to a life-threatening situation just the way it is supposed to—just the way the brain of a rape victim reacts to an assault. In the aftermath, the officer may be unable to recall many important details. He may be uncertain about many. He may be confused about many. He may recall some details inaccurately. Simultaneously, he will recall certain details – the things his brain focused on – with extraordinary accuracy. He may well never forget them. All of this, too, is the human brain working the way it was designed to work. Last week, [Rolling Stone issued a note](https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/a-note-to-our-readers-20141205) about their story of a gang rape at the University of Virginia after reports surfaced of discrepancies in the victim’s accounting. We cannot comment on that particular and clearly complex case without knowing the facts. But in our training of police investigators, prosecutors, judges, university administrators and military commanders, we’ve found that it’s helpful to share what’s known about how traumatic experiences affect the functioning of three key brain regions. First, let’s consider the prefrontal cortex. This part of our brain is responsible for “executive functions,” including focusing attention where we choose, rational thought processes and inhibiting impulses. You are using your prefrontal cortex right now to read this article and absorb what we’ve written, rather than getting distracted by other thoughts in your head or things going on around you. But in states of high stress, fear or terror like combat and sexual assault, [the prefrontal cortex is impaired](http://www.sciencemag.org/content/280/5370/1711) – sometimes even effectively shut down – by a surge of stress chemicals. Most of us have probably had the experience of being suddenly confronted by an emergency, one that demands some kind of clear thinking, and finding that precisely when we need our brain to work at its best, it seems to become bogged down and unresponsive. When the executive center of the our brain goes offline, we are less able to willfully control what we pay attention to, less able to make sense of what we are experiencing, and therefore less able to recall our experience in an orderly way. Inevitably, at some point during a traumatic experience, fear kicks in. When it does, it is no longer the prefrontal cortex running the show, but the brain’s fear circuitry – especially the amygdala. Once the fear circuitry takes over, it – not the prefrontal cortex – controls where attention goes. It could be the sound of incoming mortars or the cold facial expression of a predatory rapist or the grip of his hand on one’s neck. Or, the fear circuitry can direct attention away from the horrible sensations of sexual assault by focusing attention on otherwise meaningless details. Either way, what gets attention tends to be fragmentary sensations, not the many different elements of the unfolding assault. And what gets attention is what is most likely to get encoded into memory. The brain’s fear circuitry also alters the functioning of a third key brain area, the hippocampus. The hippocampus encodes experiences into short-term memory and can store them as long-term memories. Fear impairs the ability of the hippocampus to encode and store “contextual information,” like the layout of the room where the rape happened. Fear also impairs its ability to encode time sequencing information, like whether the perpetrator ripped off a shirt before or after saying “you want this.” Our understanding of the altered functioning of the brain in traumatic situations is founded on decades of research, and as that research continues, it is giving us a more nuanced view of the human brain “on trauma.” Recent studies suggest that the hippocampus goes into a super-encoding state briefly after the fear kicks in. Victims may remember in exquisite detail what was happening just before and after they realized they were being attacked, including context and the sequence of events. However, they are likely to have very fragmented and incomplete memories for much of what happens after that. These advances in our understanding of the impact of trauma on the brain have enormous implications for the criminal justice system. It is not reasonable to expect a trauma survivor – whether a rape victim, a police officer or a soldier – to recall traumatic events the way they would recall their wedding day. They will remember some aspects of the experience in exquisitely painful detail. Indeed, they may spend decades trying to forget them. They will remember other aspects not at all, or only in jumbled and confused fragments. Such is the nature of terrifying experiences, and it is a nature that we cannot ignore. _James Hopper, Ph.D.,_ _is an independent consultant and Instructor in Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He trains investigators, prosecutors, judges and military commanders on the neurobiology of sexual assault._ _David Lisak, Ph.D.,_ _is a forensic consultant, researcher, national trainer and the board president of 1in6, a non-profit that provides information and services to men who were sexually abused as children._ _Read next:_ [_It’s Women Who Suffer When We Don’t Ask Questions_](http://time.com/3620504/its-women-who-suffer-when-we-dont-ask-questions/?xid=time%5Freadnext) ## Transcript You know there are ways not to perform oral sex. Oh, I was kind of stoned at the time and quite honestly that didn't even enter my mind. Now I wish it would have. But. Meaning the using of the teeth right? 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