Remember When?: The Science of Memory

by Scientific American

We don’t often marvel at the process of remembering—that is, until we forget. What allows us to remember, and how do we forget? Most importantly, why do we remember certain things and not others? In this e-book, Remember When? The Science of Memory, we explore what science can tell us about memory, starting with an introductory section defining what memory is, including what makes something memorable and some common misconceptions about memory. A surprising piece by Gary Stix, “You Must Remember This … Because You Have no Choice,” explores why some people can remember what they had for lunch on a Tuesday 20 years ago while others can’t. There’s also a fascinating Q&A with Eric Kandel, neuroscientist and psychiatrist who won the Nobel Prize for his groundbreaking work on how neurons fire together in order to store memories in the brain. Section 2 delves deeper, analyzing the anatomy of memory, from how memories are saved to how they’re transferred from short-term storage in the hippocampus to long-term storage in the cortex. Other sections explore various aspects of memory from its role in learning to the effects of trauma and age. Joe Z. Tsien discusses his technique of genetically tweaking certain receptor proteins on neurons in “Building a Brainier Mouse.” In “Erasing Painful Memories,” long-time journalist Jerry Adler looks at research into both behavioral therapies and drugs that can help to alter painful or traumatic memories after the fact. Finally, the last section looks at ways to improve your memory. One story links dreaming to improved learning. In another, R. Douglas Fields summarizes the work behind the idea of a “smart pill,” based on the relatively recent discovery that a specific protein kinase might boost memory and could be given in pill form to enhance that most mysterious process.

Genres: Science

100 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 22, 2013

About the author

Scientific American , as an institutional author, is a popular science magazine founded by Rufus M. Porter and controlled by Nature Publishing Group since autumn, 2008. Mariette DiChristina has been editor-in-chief since December, 2009.

Reviews

[Bernie Gourley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is part of a series put out by Scientific American magazine that collects articles on a specific topic of interest, in this case memory.

I’ll get straight to the point:

Pros: The style is readable and concise, and the book is well-organized and full of fascinating tidbits [Note: when I say “well-organized,” it’s clearly a collection of past articles of various types, and so there are a mix of short pieces, long-ish pieces, and an interview or two. However, these inconsistent “chapters” are placed in sections in a logical fashion. Furthermore, I expected much more repetitiveness from this type of collection than there was.]

Cons: First, the Kindle version that I read had lots of typos, and they were systematic typos. [Fun fact, considering this is a book on memory. My memory was that this book had typos throughout, but when I looked back through to review it, I noticed it was only some chapters, but—influentially—including the last.] By “systematic typos” I mean the same characters were replaced throughout with the wrong character(s.) While this isn’t the kind of typo that leads to confusion, it’s the kind that makes one say, “Did you really not have anyone look this over after it was machine-converted, you lazy …?” Second, because it’s a collection of magazine articles, one might see a piece from recent years right next to one from the 1990’s. This wouldn’t necessarily be anything to concern one, and might even be a positive. However, once one has seen the aforementioned laziness, it makes one wonder whether half the information isn’t outdated.

The 30 pieces that make up this collection are divided among seven sections to provide a logical organization and progression of the material.

Section 1 explains what memory is and why it seems to work so well in some cases but so poorly in others.

The second section explores the neuroscience of memory and how the brain turns experiences into memories.

Section 3 offers insight into the connection between learning and memory. This describes some fascinating discoveries on the importance of white matter (not the cells that store the memories, but the ones that connect those that do) and the role of sleep.

Section 4 is where it really gets interesting. This section investigates amnesia, hypnosis, and déjà vu.

The fifth section considers a few of the many ways that memory can fail. Besides discussing how false memories are created and attempts to erase traumatic memories, the section also explores the connection between emotion and memory.

Section 6 answers why memory gets worse with age, with discussion of a few of the methods for reducing this tendency.

The last section describes some of the methods used to improve memory. Here, I will offer the same warning as I did for the last review I did on a book of this topic (i.e. “Memory: A Very Short Introduction”), which is to say that if this is your primary purpose for buying the book, you probably want to look for a more specialized book. (Where the AVSI book was a cursory summation of proven techniques, this one focuses on the science of the moment [e.g. experimental medicines and blueberries] and not well-established techniques.)

The graphics are those from the magazine, and, therefore, tend to be detailed and “slick.” This can be a disadvantage when reading on a base model Kindle, such as mine. Even with the graphics expanded, the font is tiny and hard to read. Also, the color graphics on a black-and-white device would likely be clearer as simple line diagrams rather than complex computer renderings. However, most of the articles have little to no graphics, and so it’s not a problem that comes up with great frequency.

I’ll compare this book with the Oxford University Press “A Very Short Introduction” on the same topic that I just reviewed because they are clear competitors. This book covers a broader range of topics, including some intriguing ones such as: hypnosis and memory, déjà vu, the role of fitness on memory, and more detailed information about the connection between sleep and memory. In other words, this book is full of the latest (at the time) research of a nature intended to attract popular science magazine readers. However, the AVSI book is more concisely arranged to get a neophyte up to speed on memory without offering extraneous information. I suspect the AVSI book will age better. The Scientific American book has a fair amount of current events reporting that may be overturned (if some of it hasn’t already been) by subsequent research. The AVSI book was much more easily readable on my Kindle.

I found this book to be interesting and informative—though not without significant flaws. Overall, I’d recommend it for those wanting to learn about the research of recent decades on memory.

[David Teachout · Rating 3 out of 5]

great info, annoying typos

For a science book dedicated to memory, the number of typos becomes ridiculous at times, even to the point where some words cannot be filled in properly by deduction. That said, the information here is well presented and delivered without too much jargon, though there is some. I wouldn't recommend this to just anyone, as a base understanding of psychology and neuropsychology is helpful. Further, there's no overall philosophy at work here so be careful if you're not ready to have your world rocked. The science of memory deals with fundamental aspects of our self-image creation and who we are is not something messed around with without a lot of caution. Be grounded in knowing how and what to question and this collection of essays will do well at pushing you into more and more contemplation of just how we see the world.