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Mind

Memory illusion makes you think events occurred earlier than they did

It can be difficult to recall exactly when a specific event happened, and now it seems our memory can be tricked into pushing occurrences back in time, making us think they happened earlier than in reality

By Sophie Berdugo

14 March 2025

It can be difficult to remember when something happened

Alexey Kotelnikov / Alamy Stock Photo

An illusion that warps our perception of time – altering our recollection of events to make it seem as if they occurred further into the past – may force a rethink of our existing theories of memory.

Our ability to recall past events requires information on what happened as well as when and where, but because memories aren’t time-stamped, our recollection of when they were formed is fallible. For example, previous studies have found that seeing a name multiple times can lead people to believe…

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