Intrusive memory

An involuntarily occurring memory or memory-like impression. Frequency, sensory content, distress and sense of present occurrence should be assessed separately; an intrusion is not automatically a literal replay.

An experimental analogue using distressing film material to study later involuntary memories. It permits controlled manipulations and prospective diaries but is not equivalent to clinical trauma exposure or a diagnosis of PTSD.^[ref]

The proposal that sensory impressions preceding the worst moments of a trauma acquire predictive significance and are later reexperienced as warning signals. Descriptive clinical content supports investigation of the account, while causal conditioning and retrospective reconstruction require separate tests.^[ref]