Feed on
Posts
Comments

Category Archive for 'Memory'

Memories are made of this

Some of you have mastered the art of cramming for exams. But what really happens when we store a thought for a very short period of time? What are memories made of? We’ve come a long way in our understanding since Dean Martin’s 1955 hit song. After looking at single neurons in the prefrontal cortex [...]

Read Full Post »

CBS is not typically a good source for science articles, but this is a very nice read on the science of sleep. They mention some of the aspects that we talked about in class- the need for sleep, how it affects learning and memory, and perhaps most importantly, the link between sleep and attention. [...]

Read Full Post »

The case of AJ

Here is a short NPR broadcast in which AJ describes her experiences with her near “perfect” memory. She can remember near everything that has happened to her, but has a poor capacity to remember facts and even historical events. A key component to her memory is the emotional content in her memories, and [...]

Read Full Post »

Stress test.

This image is part of a stress test. For some individuals, these two dolphins may appear slightly different. This is an indicator of stress. The brains of individuals undergoing stress often have enhanced activity wherein they notice finer details. Final exams are one progenitor of stress.
It has long been observed that [...]

Read Full Post »

Savants and Autism

There is a consistent link between the occurrence of austism and special mental capabilities such a remarkable facility with numbers or artistic talent. There are two parts to this broadcast, the first is linked here:

Read Full Post »

“Memory is the thing you forget with.” ~ Alexander Chase,Perspectives
“Nothing fixes a thing so intensely in the memory as the wish to forget it.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
One of the major mysteries of the brain is how memories are formed– or more particularly, what form memories take in the brain. This is another Radiolab [...]

Read Full Post »

Sleep, perchance to dream

Sleep is something that we take for granted, and all too often assume that we will find enough time to get the sleep that we need.
This is a WNYC Radio Lab podcast that talks about many aspects of sleep. With studies of sleep involving a diverse array of animals from little girls and cats [...]

Read Full Post »