How your memory works -- and why forgetting is totally OK | Lisa Genova

TED Health

TED

Health & Fitness, Fitness, Shoshana Ungerleider, Medicine, How To Be Healthier, Ted Shoshana, Ted Talks Health

4.2 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 8 June 2021

⏱️ 22 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Have you ever misplaced something you were just holding? Completely blanked on a famous actor's name? Walked into a room and immediately forgot why? Neuroscientist Lisa Genova digs into two types of memory failures we regularly experience -- and reassures us that forgetting is totally normal. Stay tuned for a conversation with TED science curator David Biello, where Genova describes the difference between common moments of forgetting and possible signs of Alzheimer's, debunks a widespread myth about brain capacity and shares what you can do to keep your brain healthy and your memory sharp. (This virtual conversation was part of an exclusive TED Membership event. Visit ted.com/membership to become a TED Member.)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Ted Audio Collective
0:08.0	Hello, and welcome back to Ted Health. I'm Dr. Shoshana Ungerlider.
0:13.2	My mission is to help people live happy, healthy, and fulfilled lives.
0:18.2	I'm excited to join you as the new host of Ted Health.
0:23.2	I don't know about you, but the older I get, I often wonder if forgetting a former classmate's name,
0:28.9	where I parked my car, or why I walked into the kitchen is the sign of a problem.
0:33.9	In her 2021 Ted Membership Talk, Neuroscientist and Author, Dr. Lisa Genova
0:39.2	dives into how memories get created.
0:41.6	Like context and attention really matter, and answers the critical question,
0:46.1	do we ever run out of room for making new memories?
0:49.2	She shares what science tells us about whether the choices we make earlier in life,
0:53.4	like exercising, eating well, taking supplements, and getting enough sleep
0:58.3	can help to keep our memory sharp leader in life.
1:02.6	Hey, listener, a quick favor. We are conducting an audience survey,
1:05.8	and we'd be really grateful if you could take just a few minutes to respond.
1:09.5	Please visit survey.prx.org slash health to take the survey today.
1:15.9	That's survey.prx.org slash health. Thanks.
1:21.4	Thinking about the past week, did any of you forget where you put your phone?
1:26.9	Did you have a word stuck on the tip of your tongue?
1:29.6	You couldn't remember the name of an actor, or that movie a friend recommended?
1:34.8	Did you forget to take out the trash, or move the laundry from the washer to the dryer,
1:40.3	or to pick up something from the grocery store you meant to buy?
	...

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