Exploring how the brain helps you keep a grip on reality

This is based on a piece about our research that I was asked to write for a thing after recently being selected to receive the Experimental Psychology Society Prize. The EPS is one of the most venerable and respected learned societies in my field, and it was a real honour for our work to be recognised by them.

Whenever old friends get together, it rarely takes long for people to start reminiscing about the past. Amusing (sometimes, bawdy) tales might be told about events that may have occurred many years ago. As a listener, you can find yourself mentally transported back in time, re-living a fondly-remembered episode as if it were playing out in front of you once again. Except – how do you know that you were actually there when the event originally took place? How can you be sure that you’re remembering a faithful representation of what happened, as opposed to a fictitious recollection of an event that might have been entirely imagined? In short, how do we determine whether our memories are real?