After listening to a radio interview with the author on CBC Radio, I was keen to read her book. Fortunately the author used the best title ever for a book about memory, so I was able to remember the name of her book.

While reading this book, the author articulately guided me through the science of memory and the critical sections of the brain. The author included thoughtful anecdotes that I could relate to and that helped me to link and retain much of the information shared.

I wish that I had learned some of this information at a much younger age before cramming for the many exams I wrote during and post University. I recall that I did learn to use the testing and pneumonic methodology that helped me ace an accounting exam. Over time I also learned the importance of preparing, rehearsing and rest to be successful.

One key takeaway for me was how damaging stress can be to both your memory and physical well-being. The author clearly laid out very practical guidance on how to keep your mind, body and brain healthy. I would definitely recommend this book if you are interested in learning more about why and how you remember and forget.

Whenever people want an example of pop non-fiction, this is what I’m going to point to. This would’ve been a half decent book if the author didn’t reference Bruno Mars, Marvelous Ms. Maisel, or COVID, but since they did, I hope to get them and everyone else that’s been given a TED talk in this category to go on a cruise ship that I will promptly sink.

Very well written about the tricky subject of memory. It takes a good look from both a scientific and folk knowledge point of view dispelling some myths with a good sense of humour. She finishes on a high note with potential helpful tips.

It's nice to know that my senior moments are normal and not a sign of dementia or Alzheimer's.

This book by Lisa Genova differs from the previous ones, because this one is a real essay, i.e. the author does not tell the story of one of her patients (real or fake) in order to describe the process of remembering, as she did in her previous books about other neurological diseases.
This did not bother me at all, also because she has always been a great writer in my opinion, and although I was already familiar with the subject, the book was still very interesting.

Questo libro di Lisa Genova, si discosta dai precedenti, perché questo é un vero e proprio saggio e cioé l'autrice non racconta la storia di uno dei suoi pazienti (vero o finto che sia) per descrivere il processo del ricordare, com'era stato invece fino ad ora nei suoi libri precedenti riguardo altri disturbo neurologici.
Devo ammettere che la cosa non mi ha affatto disturbato, anche perché lei é sempre stata una grande divulgatrice secondo me, e per quanto l'argomento mi fosse giá noto, il libro é stato lo stesso molto interessante.

"When performing optimally, memory doesn't remember everything. It retains what is meaningful and useful and discards what isn't." I find that passage helpful. Especially lately.

  In Remember, Lisa Genova gives a great, brief overview on how memory works--how it's formed, the various types of memories that exist, why we forget, techniques for how we can improve our memory, and tips based on studies correlated with possible prevention of Alzheimer's.

  I really admire those who have very technical or scientific backgrounds, like researchers, PhD's, professors, doctors, etc. who also write well that's both accessible to lay people, but also not dumbed down so much, to the point where it's almost condescending and patronizing. She also doesn't go the opposite direction and immure us in way too many scientific details, whether it be the biological structure, several case studies, relevant anecdotes, etc.

Miscellaneous Reading Notes:
  • How memory is formed:
    1.) Encoding: brain captures sensory input, factual information, and emotion of what you perceived and paid attention to and translates this all into neurological language.
    2.) Consolidation: Brain links the previously unrelated collection of neural activity into a single pattern of associated connections
    3.) Storage: The pattern of activity that was consolidated is maintained over time thru persistent structural and chemical changes in those neurons (LTM doesn't exist at one specific address of the brain, but rather in the neuronal areas that were activated during the formation of the memory)
    4.) RetrievalCan get the memory thru the activation of the associated connections (revisit, recall, know, and recognize what you learned & experienced)
  • The hippocampus is essential for memory consolidation. It's one of the first places attacked with Alzheimer, making it difficult to form new memories.
  • Prospective memory: what you plan to do
    • Our human brains are terrible at this. Use external tools to help you remember these things (e.g. save a task in your phone's calendar to remind you to do something at a specific time in the future)
  • Episodic memory: what happened
    • e.g. I can remember ordering a massive, large-as-my-head cinnamon roll at Disney World in 2014 in the area that looked like Beauty & the Beast
  • Semantic memory: information you know
    • I know Olympia is the capital of WA, can name all the U.S. states in alphabetical order, and that 2 * 2 = 4.
  • Muscle memory: how to do things
    • e.g. playing the piano (like knowing exactly how to place your fingers to play a chord rather than consciously thinking about placement of each finger), riding a bike, doing a handstand, implementing an interface in kotlin, etc.
  • Attention is necessary for forming a memory
  • Visualizing--forming a mental picture--of what your trying to memorize along with making the thing your trying to memorize meaningful, and relating the thing to something you already know all help positively to creating and remembering the memory
  • Use retrieval cues to help you remember
  • Context matters.
    • Memory retrieval is easier, faster, and more likely to be fully remembered when the interal and external conditions match whatever they were when the memory was formed (e.g. if I was stressed, sleep-deprived, and caffeinated when the memory was formed, then I'm more likely to remember what I studied during the exam if I'm feeing the same way during it.)
  • Stress is helpful for forming memories for the thing that we're stressed about (in a very narrowed-in, focused-on-that-one-thing manner), but it also is detrimental for retrieval of memories. Chronic stress shrinks your hippocampus, which again is needed to form new memories...vicious cycle
    • Relieve stress by doing yoga, meditating, showing gratitude, exercising, and being compassionate
  • Like in Norman Doidge's The Brain That Changes Itself also mentioned in his book about neuroplasticity, Genova also cites that exercising physically and learning new things are both necessary for brain health--to activate neurogenesis, that is, the creation of new brain cells, we must exercise, and we can continue to make new brain cells till death (in certain areas of our nervous system--Doidge notes that we haven't discovered active neuronal stem cells in all areas of our nervous system like the spinal cord, for example)
  • Sleep is important 7 - 9 hrs. Needed for optional functioning of our body. Without sleep, your prefrontal cortex will feel sluggish, making it hard for you to pay attention, therefore making it difficult for you to form new memories. Additional sleep consolidates and locks in new memories--this includes muscle memories. Sleep replays the neuronal pathways of memories that occurred throughout the day. Recall that firing of neurons strengthens that connection. Study also showed that sleep enhanced semantic and episodic memory as well by 20 - 40% vs. the group that tried recalling without 8 hrs of sleep in between

Detractions
  • 1 star off, simply because it doesn't really delve deep enough into certain topics. This felt like we were only scratching the surface of the science of memory--which totally might be what most people are looking for, but for me personally, I would've appreciated a little more

Additional Recommendations for Engineers
  • If you're interested in memory and you're a software engineer, I highly recommend The Programmer's Brain by Felienne Hermans, which goes into cognition (including memory like STM, LTM, working memory) in the context of programming.
  • Also read The Brain the Changes Itself for a neuroplasticity read, and you could see how the repetition and learning aspects in Remember reinforce what Doidge says in his book.
Remember Co

p9 'Without adding your attention, you never formed a memory..."

p21 "Memory is stored throughout your brain in the pattern of neural activity that was stimulated when the event or information was first experienced."

p23 "Remembering is an associative scavenger hunt, a reconstruction job that involves the activation of many disparate but connected parts of the brain. We remember memories; we don't replay them."

p34 discusses the choice of being mindful/paying attention to the positive experiences so that they consolidate into memory. When depressed, less likely to consolidate the happier moments.

p51-56 Chapter on Muscle Memory: 3 basic types of memory--memory for information (semantic), memory for what happened (episodic) , and memory for how to do things (muscle memory). Hippocampus essential for forming new semantic and episodic memories. Muscle memory bond together in basal ganglia, and consolidation requires repeated activation through lots of focused practice.

p64 semantic memory is data unattached at any specific life experience. episodic is attached to a where and when.

p66-67 for learning, the spacing effect is more helpful as it gives the hippocampus time to fully consolidate what you've learned, and time to self-test. p69Self-testing greatly increases recall.

p107 "Putting any sensory experience into words distorts and narrows the original memory of the experience." What an interesting statement

Author discusses how different people remember events differently depending on what they paid attention to, how much they have thought about the events. Memory, especially over time, can be right, wrong, or somewhere in between. Some details may be left out over time, other information added, in the retelling.

p125 Baker/baker paradox Easier to remember details of person than name due to associations.
p128 "Neurologically, recognition is always easier than recall."

P132 "Prospective memory is our memory for what you need to do later." Calendars, lists, etc. so helpful for this.

p150 "...two main ways to resist the effects of time on memory: repetition and meaning."

p163 "When performing optimally, memory doesn't remember everything. It retains wha tis meaningful and useful, and it discards that isn't...Our ability to forget is likely to be just as vital as is our ability to remember."

p191 "Memory retrieval is far easier, faster, and more likely to be fully summoned when the context of recall matches the context that was present when the memory was formed. We see this...with prospective (what you plan to do), episodic (what happened), semantic (information you know), and muscle (how to do things) memories."

p204 "Stress inhibits you prefrontal cortex, impairing your ability to think."