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Memory sometimes fails us: We can't remember where we set our keys, or how we know that woman at the party. But what about the memories we're sure are real and remember vividly?

 shows that when memories are attached to particularly emotional events, we're more likely to create a false memory. Two experts joined 

 to talk about the malleability of memory. 

1. Your memories of highly emotional or traumatic events aren't much different from other memories.

Elizabeth Phelps, professor of psychology and neural science and the director of the Phelps Lab at New York University, said these memories, known as flashbulb memories, are distinguished from others because we have extreme confidence in their accuracy.

2. You start developing flashbulb memories around age 8.

Elizabeth Kensinger, professor of psychology and the director of the cognitive and affective neuroscience lab at Boston College, said flashbulb memories usually start around age 8 and require you to understand at the time of the event that it is significant. 

3. One year after an event, 50 percent of the details you can recall change. 

You're more likely to remember details related to time and place, Phelps said. Researchers believe this is due to the type of cells in your hippocampus, the part of your brain that's important for memory storage. You're less likely to remember what you did immediately before or after that event, or who you were with. 

4. Humans are terrible at remembering how they felt at the moment.

Phelps said this is likely due to it being an internal element of the memory. Each time you recall the memory, your feelings about the event can change and get associated with this memory. Kensinger's example: People who were interviewed before the Y2K scare who expressed great concern later remembered being less concerned when asked to recall that moment later. 

Phelps discussed memories related to the 9/11 attacks.

6. You shape your memories when you start telling others about them.

When you tell someone about an experience, even shortly after it occurred, you're shifting it from a visual memory to a verbal one. The words you choose to use can influence the memory stored. Did the car "crash" into something or "bump" into something? Researchers found that people who heard a car crash were more likely to estimate the car was going faster. 

7. Shifting memories can be detrimental in criminal cases.

Science of memory: Why eyewitnesses get it wrong by MPR News

8. Researchers are testing drugs that could alter, erase or lessen response to memories.

Can drugs erase or change specific memories? by MPR News

 about the topic that was recommended on air.

9. Do you think you have an above-average memory? 

 at University of California-Irvine. He does neuroscience research on highly superior autobiographical memory. 

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New science shows that when memories are attached to particularly emotional events, we're more likely to create a false memory.

We all know that memory sometimes fails us: we can't remember where we set our keys, or how we know that woman at the party. But what about the memories we're sure are real and remember vividly? New science shows that when memories are attached to particularly emotional events, we're more likely to create a false memory.

The malleability of memory

Matt Cardy/Getty Images

Full discussion: http://bit.ly/1GQXuju
On MPR News' Kerri Miller, we talked to two experts on memory. A caller discussed her experience with eyewitnesses in criminal cases. Elizabeth Phelps, professor of psychology and neural science and the director of the Phelps Lab at New York University, and Elizabeth Kensinger, professor of psychology and the director of the cognitive and affective neuroscience lab at Boston College, responded. 

Full discussion: http://bit.ly/1GQXuju
On MPR News' Kerri Miller, we talked to two experts on memory. Elizabeth Phelps, professor of psychology and neural science and the director of the Phelps Lab at New York University, discussed the latest research into drugs that can target specific memories. 

9 facts about emotional memories and recall

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