Editing Flashbulb memory (section)

===Compared to traumatic memories===
Flashbulb memories are engendered by highly emotional, surprising events. Flashbulb memories differ from traumatic events because they do not generally contain an emotional response. Traumatic memories involve some element of fear or anxiety. While flashbulb memories can include components of [[negative emotion]], these elements are generally absent.

There are some similarities between traumatic and flashbulb memories. During a traumatic event, high arousal can increase attention to central information leading to increased vividness and detail. Another similar characteristic is that memory for traumatic events is enhanced by emotional stimuli. An additional, a difference between the nature of flashbulb memories and traumatic memories is the amount of information regarding unimportant details that will be encoded in the memory of the event. In high-stress situations, arousal dampens memory for peripheral information—such as context, location, time, or other less important details.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Brewin|first=C.R.|title=Autobiographical memory for trauma: Update on four controversies|journal=Memory|date=April 2007|volume=15|issue=3|pages=227–248|doi=10.1080/09658210701256423|pmid=17454661|s2cid=19383961}}</ref> To rephrase, flashbulb memories are described as acute awareness of where a person was and what they were doing when a significant or traumatic event occurred, and are not characterized by strong emotion, while traumatic memories are accompanied by highly [[negative emotion]]s such as anxiety, fear, and panic when the related event is recalled.<ref name="Brown" />