There was a study that suggested that the motor cortex can remember even if short term memory conversion was destroyed.
If nothing else, myelinization counts as a form of memory. Strengthened by reuse.
I would love to know if those warm feelings are stronger with individuals who remind you of someone you used to know. “This nurse reminds me of Aunt Sarah, who was nice to me when my dog died.” And so forth.
That study is an interesting suggestion that there might be a physiological basis for the explicit / implicit distinction in terms of memory. Makes sense in many ways that some kind of memory might be embedded in the motor cortex. I wonder if the same is true for emotional memories and midbrain structures, as hinted at in your last paragraph.
I always find those non-obvious connections fascinating, like the disorders where e.g. someone can't say the word "fork" when they're looking at one despite being to describe what you use it for etc, but can immediately name it when they touch it.
I have this weird issue where about a third of people I meet for the first time swear they know me from somewhere, and it's somewhere specific that I know I've never been. My dad and brother have the same issue, and we strongly resemble each other, so I think I just have a congenitally familiar face.
I have no idea if feelings would automatically transfer to me from people with amnesia, but they certainly do for people without it, even though I don't remind them of anyone they know well enough to name.
If nothing else, myelinization counts as a form of memory. Strengthened by reuse.
I would love to know if those warm feelings are stronger with individuals who remind you of someone you used to know. “This nurse reminds me of Aunt Sarah, who was nice to me when my dog died.” And so forth.