BrainStorm Ep 15: Lisa Genova: The Science of Memory and the Are of Forgetting

World renowned neuroscientist Lisa Genova joins BrainStorm host, Meryl Comer, to discuss her latest New York Times bestseller, Remember: The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting. 

Their provocative conversation delves into how memories are made, how we retrieve them, and what is considered normal forgetting - like where you left your keys or your phone.  Genova shares that “it’s normal to forget. “Our brains are designed to remember what's meaningful, emotional, surprising, and new and what we repeat over and over and over again.” She makes the point that you can only capture and later retain and recall what you pay attention to and that when you do recall an event, reminisce, and store it back in your brain, it overwrites the original. 

Lisa Genova’s TED Talk, What you can do to prevent Alzheimer's has been viewed more than 5 million times and her book Still Alice has been translated into 37 languages and adapted into an academy award winning, film. 

UsAgainstAlzheimer's offers BrainGuide, a platform to help you or a loved one self-test your memory. More information can be found at mybrainguide.org.