The New York Times (1/22, A14, Carey, Subscription Publication) reports that research (1/22) published online Jan. 21 in Nature suggests that “the surge of emotion that makes memories of embarrassment, triumph and disappointment so vivid can also reach back in time, strengthening recall of seemingly mundane things that happened just beforehand and that, in retrospect, are relevant.”
NBC News (1/22, Fox) reports on its website that “the findings…suggest there could be a good way to improve peoples’ memories – perhaps people who are beginning to forget things, like early Alzheimer’s patients, says” Lila Davachi, “who oversaw the experiments.”
Fox News (1/22) reports on its website that the investigators “agreed that the study’s results prove the memory system is highly adaptive and more complex than previously thought.”
Related Links:
— “How the Brain Stores Trivial Memories, Just in Case,” Benedict Carey, New York Times, January 21, 2015.