Synopses & Reviews
Over the past two decades scientists have made remarkable breakthroughs in understanding how memories are stored and retrieved, and with this knowledge they are beginning to understand the mysteries of the human mind. How can we perform tasks such as playing the piano or typing in such a way that we do not need to consciously direct each movement every step of the way? Why can we forget where we put our keys and yet remember events that happened long ago? Why is memory imperfect, and sometimes dead wrong?
Daniel Schacter has been at the forefront of the research, and Searching for Memory is his firsthand account of what we now know and what it means. With references to art and autobiography and fascinating case studies, a la Oliver Sacks, he explains how one's past experiences influence the formation of new memories, how and why memory changes as people age, and much more. The book also sheds light on such hot topics as false memory syndrome, recovered memory, Alzheimer's disease and brain-damaged patients.
Synopsis
Memory. There may be nothing more important to human beings than our ability to enshrine experience and recall it. While philosophers and poets have elevated memory to an almost mystical level, psychologists have struggled to demystify it. Now, according to Daniel Schacter, one of the most distinguished memory researchers, the mysteries of memory are finally yielding to dramatic, even revolutionary, scientific breakthroughs. Schacter explains how and why it may change our understanding of everything from false memory to Alzheimers disease, from recovered memory to amnesia with fascinating firsthand accounts of patients with strikingand sometimes bizarreamnesias resulting from brain injury or psychological trauma.
Synopsis
The mysteries of memory are finally yielding to dramatic, even revolutionary, scientific breakthroughs. Drawing on his own cutting-edge research and that of other cognitive, clinical, and neuroscientists, Schacter explains how and why this research may change our understanding of everything from false memory to Alzheimers disease, from recovered memory to amnesia.
About the Author
Daniel L. Schacter is professor and chair of psychology at Harvard University. He is the author of Stranger Behind the Engram: Theories of Memory and the Psychology of Science (1982) and has received the Troland Research Award from the National academy of Sciences. He lives in Newton, Massachusetts with his wife and two daughters.