How can trauma impact a witness's memory?

Trauma significantly influences a witness's memory, often leading to distortions or limitations in how they recall events. When someone experiences a traumatic event, their brain may prioritize emotional processing over factual recall. Stress can lead to the release of hormones like cortisol, which can impair cognitive functions involved in memory formation and retrieval. As a result, a witness may remember certain aspects of the event vividly while other critical details may be forgotten or inaccurately reconstructed. This phenomenon is particularly important in criminal investigations, as it highlights the need for investigators to understand the potential for memory inaccuracies when interviewing witnesses who may have experienced trauma.