A new study suggests that briefly changing the way people see their own bodies can make it easier to recall autobiographical memories, including some from early childhood.
Published in Scientific Reports, part of the Nature journal group, the research is the first to show that adults can access early memories more effectively after temporarily viewing themselves with a childlike version of their own face.
How the “Enfacement Illusion” Reconnects Mind and Body
Neuroscientists at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) in Cambridge led the study, which involved 50 adult volunteers. The experiment used what is known as an “enfacement illusion,” a technique that helps people feel as though another face they see on a screen is actually their own reflection.
Each participant watched a live video of their own face that was digitally modified with an image filter to resemble how they might have looked as a child. As participants moved their heads, the on-screen image mirrored their movements, creating the sensation that the childlike face was truly theirs. A control group experienced the same setup but viewed their unaltered adult faces.
After completing the illusion, participants were asked to take part in an autobiographical memory interview designed to prompt recollections from both their early life and the previous year.
A Clear Boost in Childhood Memory Recall
Researchers measured how much detail participants included when describing their episodic autobiographical memories. These are the kinds of memories that allow a person to mentally relive past experiences and “travel back in time” within their own mind.
The findings revealed that people who saw the younger version of themselves remembered significantly more detailed events from childhood than those who saw their regular adult face. The results provide the first evidence that subtle changes in bodily self-perception can influence how deeply we access distant memories.
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“All the events that we remember are not just experiences of the external world, but are also experiences of our body, which is always present.
“We discovered that temporary changes to the bodily self, specifically, embodying a childlike version of one’s own face, can significantly enhance access to childhood memories. This might be because the brain encodes bodily information as part of the details of an event. Reintroducing similar bodily cues may help us retrieve those memories, even decades later.”
Reimagining the Self to Revisit the Past
Senior author Professor Jane Aspell, head of the Self & Body Lab at Anglia Ruskin University, added: “When our childhood memories were formed, we had a different body. So we wondered: if we could help people experience aspects of that body again, could we help them recall their memories from that time?
“Our findings suggest that the bodily self and autobiographical memory are linked, as temporary changes to bodily experience can facilitate access to remote autobiographical memories.
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Journal Reference:
- Utkarsh Gupta, Peter Bright, Alex Clarke, Waheeb Zafar, Pilar Recarte-Perez, Jane E. Aspell. Illusory ownership of one’s younger face facilitates access to childhood episodic autobiographical memories. Scientific Reports, 2025; 15 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-17963-6
Source: Scientists find mind trick that unlocks lost memories | ScienceDaily
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