🧠 “Our brains don't remember everything, but maybe what they remember is enough. And yet even when the meaningful is forgotten, memory doesn't define what it means to be human.” 🧠

💭 synopsis:
A fascinating exploration of the intricacies of how we remember, why we forget, and what we can do to protect our memories, from the Harvard-trained neuroscientist and bestselling author of Still Alice.
Genova delves into how memories are made and how we retrieve them. You'll learn whether forgotten memories are temporarily inaccessible or erased forever and why some memories are built to exist for only a few seconds (like a passcode) while others can last a lifetime (your wedding day). You'll come to appreciate the clear distinction between normal forgetting (where you parked your car) and forgetting due to Alzheimer's (that you own a car). You'll see how memory is profoundly impacted by meaning, emotion, sleep, stress, and context.

🤔 thoughts:
I hadn't heard of this book before it was last month's library book club pick and I felt pretty neutral about the selection at the time. Happy to report I really enjoyed this quick listen on audio read by the author even though I didn't make it to the book club to discuss. It has fascinating research on the science of our brain that was easy to understand. My Nana was diagnosed with early onset dementia last year and I am going to buy a copy for her to read as well. The author wrote about the fear around memory loss in a nuanced and emotionally compassionate way. I also liked the very clear cut suggestions (backed by science) that DO help our brain create neural pathways and retain information. I'd recommend this for any reader that may be impacted by or know someone impacted by memory disorders, or perhaps have a fear or worry around them.

5/5 ⭐️
🎧 6 hrs, 4 min