Memories evolve throughout our lifetimes, changing as we learn and experience new things and as we recall a memory repeatedly. And then, memories degrade as we age. Previously, scientists thought that this malleability was the result of changes in the brain cells that originally encoded the memory, and they believed these cells stored just one … Read more
Some memories last a lifetime — and now, scientists have revealed a type of molecular “glue” that helps those memories stick around. Memories form when collections of neurons in a region of the brain called the hippocampus activate in response to a particular experience. Each time you recall that experience, the same set of cells … Read more
You’re walking somewhere you’ve never been before and suddenly feel as though you’ve strolled down the same road already. You’re experiencing the well-known phenomenon déjà vu — but what is déjà vu, really, and why does the strange feeling happen? Déjà vu is a French expression meaning “already seen,” which was first used in 1876 … Read more
A man in his 80s gradually started feeling that he was witnessing the same events again and again. This disturbing symptom, somewhat reminiscent of the 1993 movie “Groundhog Day,” likely emerged as a rare complication of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new report of the case. According to the report, published May 16 in the … Read more
Human beings can generate false memories of events mere seconds after they have occurred, a new study has found. The phenomenon, which researchers have dubbed “short-term memory illusions,” shows how easily and rapidly humans reimagine experiences to fit our preconceptions, rather than accurately recording what takes place. The researchers published their findings April 5 in … Read more
