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A review by zeryth
Remember: The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting by Lisa Genova
4.0
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
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