Transient global amnesia: Taylor Swift fans report post-concert forgetfulness

Now imagine paying hundreds of euros to see your favorite artist in concert, only to get home and realize you can't actually remember their performance. It might sound crazy, or at least quite unusual, but since the start of Taylor Swift's tour, that is precisely what some fans say has been happening to them. It's a phenomenon called transient global amnesia. And to tell us a bit about it, our science editor, Julia Siege, is with me in the studio. Julia, first of all, what are we talking about here? Hi, Nadia. So indeed, it did happen to French fans, but also fans in the in the United States. And tickets, there are thousands of euros, but they're called Swifties right there. The Taylor Swift fans. And they all reported not being some of them reported not being able to recall Taylor Swift's performance during the Aris tour. Now, some don't remember the color of her outfits or choreographies, but for others, it's a total blackout. They don't remember some entire portions of her show, but they always vividly remember whatever happened before the show or after the show. Now, the phenomenon was so widespread that a psychiatrist from New Jersey decided to investigate these fan testimonies. And she even published a a research paper and she believed it is the syndrome called transient global amnesia, which is characterized by a temporary loss of memory. So it's actually due to an overload of excitement and stress. So it overwhelms the brain, which makes it unable to encode memories, if you will. So our our memory is extremely sensitive to stress. Let it be positive emotions, but also negative emotions. If you're overwhelmed by negative emotions, you're more inclined to develop post traumatic stress disorder. But if you're overwhelmed by positive emotions, then you you're more inclined to develop somewhat of an this amnesia. Now it's very similar to what you may feel, this sensation that you have when you're having a lot of fun. That time is flying by. That's exactly what the phenomenon is all about. Now it's related more specifically to an overreaction of the amygdala in the brain. So when your body faces stress, what it does as your liver releases glucose into the bloodstream and into the muscles, the muscles then send a signal to the brain, and the amygdala is then going to release a neurotransmitter called neuroadrenaline. If it if there's just a little bit of it, it helps encode the memories. But if there's too much, it's counterproductive and and you suffer a memory loss. This is such an interesting story, Julia. And look, is this only happening to Taylor Swift fans? No, it can actually happen for other events, sports events. If you're, you know, you're a sports fan, you can actually, you're so overwhelmed by someone's victory. For instance, it can happen during a wedding, a graduation ceremony, when whenever there's too much anticipation, excitement, pressure or emotion, you can go through that amnesia. Now, more specifically, we're seeing it with concerts. Why? Because they've changed so much in the last few years, as you can see here, you have strobe lights. Every two seconds there's a surprise, an explosion, lights. You know, even a, a costume changes. And it's perhaps almost too much for our brains. It's very similar to what we see with young kids when they're watching video games or cartoons and it's going too fast. Well, that's when the attention actually goes down and you can't encode the memory anymore. Is there anybody who's particularly at risk of this? Well, first, it's important to say that it's a benign syndrome. It doesn't last. There's no long term effects. But a study conducted in Argentina, over 200 people did find that it occurs in young people, but it tends to occur more in elderly people and more specifically in people who suffer already from anxiety and depression. All right, Julia, Sega, as I said, fascinating story. Thanks very much.