Your memory is lying to you. Here’s how. | Lisa Genova | Big Think
February 13, 2022
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7:56Now PlayingYour memory is lying to you. Here’s how. | Lisa Genova | Big Think
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as posted by the channelYour memory is lying to you. Here’s how, with Lisa Genova
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Our memories are not reality.
A memory is the pattern of neural activity that represents the sights, sounds, smells, feelings, information, and language that you experienced when you learned something. When this neural circuit is reactivated, you experience a memory.
Recalling memories is not a passive process. Every time we recall a memory, it changes, and we store this “2.0 version” over the older version in our brain. With each retelling, the memory drifts further and further away from the original memory.
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About Lisa Genova:
Lisa Genova is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels Still Alice, Left Neglected, Love Anthony, Inside the O’Briens, and Every Note Played. Still Alice was adapted into an Oscar-winning film starring Julianne Moore, Alec Baldwin, and Kristen Stewart. Lisa graduated valedictorian from Bates College with a degree in biopsychology and holds a PhD in neuroscience from Harvard University. She travels worldwide speaking about the neurological diseases she writes about and has appeared on The Dr. Oz Show, Today, PBS NewsHour, CNN, and NPR. Her TED talk, “What You Can Do to Prevent Alzheimer’s,” has been viewed more than five million times. The New York Times bestseller REMEMBER is her first work of nonfiction.
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