Coercive Interrogation Destroys Memories

As evidenced countless times in jails around the world, including the US-operated Guantanamo Bay prison, in Cuba, torture has not yet been completely removed from common practice, when it comes to interrogating prisoners. During the Bush administration, torture was used extensively to collect data from so-called terrorist suspects, which have, to this day, to be charged with anything. Among these techniques, waterboarding is the most common, as evidenced by reports by the US Army. However, psychologists demonstrated recently that torture did not aid jailers in collecting the data they needed.

According to a new scientific paper published by Cell Press in the September 21st issue of the journal Trends in Cognitive Science, it would appear that hardcore methods of extracting information may play a larger role in degrading and destroying the memories, than in retrieving them. The experts demonstrate that repetitive and extreme stress applied to the brain actually damages the brain tissue, and impairs the cognitive mechanisms that are related to memory formation and storage, as well as to other neural functions, e! Science News reports.

Documents revealed by the US Department of Justice in April 2009 have shown some of the cruel and inhumane methods of “interrogation” the US Army, still led by conservatives, used on the political prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. These techniques included prolonged shocks, disorientation, stress, anxiety, and lack of control. The papers also showed that the methods were used because whoever was in charge thought that this would make the detainees more willing to cooperate.

Torture “is based on the assumption that subjects will be motivated to reveal veridical information to end interrogation, and that extreme stress, shock and anxiety do not impact memory. However, this model of the impact of extreme stress on memory and the brain is utterly unsupported by scientific evidence,” the author of the new review, Professor Shane O'Mara, explains. He holds an appointment at the Trinity College, in Dublin, Ireland, in the Institute of Neuroscience.

“To briefly summarize a vast, complex literature, prolonged and extreme stress inhibits the biological processes believed to support memory in the brain. For example, studies of extreme stress with Special Forces Soldiers have found that recall of previously-learned information was impaired after stress occurred,” O'Mara adds. “Given our current cognitive neurobiological knowledge, it is unlikely that coercive interrogations involving extreme stress will facilitate release of truthful information from long term memory. On the contrary, these techniques cause severe, repeated and prolonged stress, which compromises brain tissue supporting both memory and decision making.”