The Science Of Forgetting

It is normal to suffer some memory loss — where you last kept the car keys, the reason you’re at the pharmacy in the first place and the name of the person you’ve been speaking to for the last 15 minutes.

Memory loss is non-discriminatory and universal, but not much is really understood about how memory is stored, and why and how we forget.Forgetting can be funny, but it can also be unnerving at times, says Martha Weinman Lear, author of Where Did I Leave My Glasses?.

Lear, like some of us, has a case of bad memory recall. As a writer, she grew increasingly frustrated with her memory blanks and sought to seek reassurance that her memory loss was normal. “The title of this book, she says, let me tell you, is a phrase carved into my soul,” Lear writes in an article on her publisher’s website.

“I often could not see what I was writing because I could not find my eyeglasses.”Her neurologist tells her that her memory loss is normal. It’s a condition that normally begins at early middle-age with symptoms such as forgetting names. That discovery piqued Lear’s curiosity to find out: what is normal memory loss?“Normal is not sexy. Normal does not attract pharmaceutical giants and press coverage,” she observes.

The irony is that normal does not attract medical attention and research, says Lear, who spent two years of research for her book.Lear presents readers with the issues surrounding remembering and forgetting in an extremely conversational style. Her approach and humour is occasional self-depreciating, but delivers the weight and essence of the issue well.

The book is extremely well-researched, based on interviews and correspondence with noted psychiatrists, psychologists, neuroscientists, computer scientists, evolutionary biologists, as well as friends and acquaintances.Each issue is approached with ease and grace, with a narrative flow that simplifies the mumble and vocabulary of academic and medical research.

And when the subject tends to be even slightly technical, Lear tries her best to explain everything in simple English, if apologetically.She introduces the categories of memory in straightforward language, with situations we can all relate to, and outlines the different types of memory that is affected by ageing.

How does one improve memory? According to her research, it is not known whether nutritional supplements such as herbs and minerals can actually help, but a healthy diet is definitely recommended. Lear personally finds physical and cognitive exercise helpful, although there is no conclusive scientific evidence of their effectiveness.

Aerobic exercise is highly recommended as it is known to release certain chemicals that improve the cognitive process, even in lab mice.There are also certain things that we never forget, such as emotional and physical pain. Lear tackles this by presenting both sides of the argument on whether men or women are better at remembering them.

The most interesting part of the discussion is based on research that says that we are biologically wired to forget. Using personal anecdotes, Lear describes the pain she felt upon her husband’s death and how she dealt with a sudden recall. Emotional pain can be retrieved, she says, but physical pain simply cannot be retrieved with precision.

“We are wired such for our survival. If we had literal memory of great physical pain, such as childbirth, or pleasure, such as a sexual orgasm, society might cease to function in an orderly way,” Lear points out. And we agree.

She also discusses “flashbulb memories”, that is, memories of where we were and what we were doing at the instant we learned of some momentous event, such as 9/11. These are public events, but stored in our memory as personal events. She quotes psychologist Ulric Neisser, who describes it as “an occasion when two narratives that we ordinarily keep separate — the course of history and the course of our own life — were momentarily put into alignment.

”These memories endure because of their emotional force on our lives, and also because we recall them and repeat them in day-to-day conversations endlessly. This memory is very little affected by age, and is etched even deeper if the event occurs earlier in youth. The fascinating fact about this memory is that we each are convinced that the version in our mind is accurate, even when it isn’t.

The Malaysian equivalent is probably March 8, 2008, an eventful moment in our times which we will no doubt talk about over and over again.Lear does not spend considerable space discussing Alzheimer’s disease, or dementia, as it is already heavily researched. She does share a few pointers on how to identify memory loss that is not normal, but according to some researchers, it may be a judgement that is hard for the person himself to make.

What brings people to the doctor’s office is when something happens, such as a big mistake at work or when memory loss interferes with daily functioning.In the last chapter of her book, Lear looks at memory and forgetting from a biological and evolutionary perspective. This era, she observes, is obsessed with mental fitness.

This craze is driven by neuroscience, and will eventually be highly commercial. It appears to be leading towards an anti-ageing industry, going beyond the chemical and surgical enhancement of Botox, further supported by external memory from computer science and artificial intelligence.

Having misplaced this book twice (and not very often remembering to take the trash out!), this writer takes comfort in the tome’s simple reassurance. Lear, an award-winning journalist, takes the seriousness out of normal memory loss, and makes an easygoing and enjoyable read out of what is normally approached from a neuro-scientific angle.

The paperback edition of Where Did I Leave My Glasses? by Martha Weinman Lear is priced at RM60.90 a copy and is available at all major bookstores.

:. The Edge 29/06/09