You know, I'm a big fan of documentaries and typically I would be the first to say that the best documentaries (Made for TV that is) almost always come from the BBC (Horizon amongst others comes to mind). But I have to confess that I'm literally in awe of the depth of presentation/material for this program. This stuff is so well put together that to be honest its much better than documentaries I've seen on the same subject from the BBC (stressing on "SEEN"). This program to me, has managed to paint a picture so clear in my minds eye that in many ways, its actually much more engaging and more entertaining than "Seeing" it. That first segment "Eternal Sunshine Of the Spotless Rat" completely blew me away.. And really got me thinking about why its necessary for the brain to always reconstruct memories from scratch. What.. does the brain "Load-Shed" for capacity issues or is it necessary for the integration of an event into our consciousness so that it can be associated with other stuff in our mind and ultimately become "YOU" (during sleep maybe..).
It really got me thinking.. and you know.. even though that segment ended on a bit of a somber note, I actually got something slightly different out of what was mentioned. Because in a sense, its actually strangely more interesting and personal that way. I mean, if we remembered events verbatim then memories would be almost like an insect trapped in amber that you can't really interact with and possibly learn from. Maybe it would have made us Spock-like where memories become nothing but sterile facts to be regurgitated on a whim or as "a matter of fact".
The fact that the memory over time becomes more about you I think, in a sense, is OK because it happened TO you.. as opposed to it happening in an ethereal space where it is simply observed.. Memories being malleable in nature makes the memory in sense "Alive" as opposed to sterile..

Needless to say, RadioLab and its presenters are awesome because I never think about this stuff typically..

For those out there interested in issues of memory and identity, this podcast featuring philosophy professor Carl Craver, who works with amnesia cases, is really fascinating: http://ow.ly/fi6rN. (Full disclosure: I conducted the interview and produced the show.) Hope some of you can listen in!

I am an acupuncturist and have found a very effective non-drug way to break or disconnect emotions from memories much like the drugs mentioned in the broadcast. It is called pstec and is available for a free download. It breaks the neural pattern that links the emotions with a pattern interrupt technique. I recommend it highly. Hope this helps someone. - Dan

For those who have not forgotten the "Fact of the Matter" this again gets at the heart of the issue of Yellow Rain, and what was wrong with the podcast from a third party perspective.

Radiolab has so much to answer for.

http://www.citypages.com/2012-11-14/news/behind-laos-s-yellow-rain-and-tears/5/

A l o h a ! To all, from the sunny slopes of Haleakala on Maui.

It is such a pleasure to look forward to 2 P.M. on Saturdays because that's when RadioLab comes on the translater station KIPM-FM (of KIPO-FM, Honolulu).
The topics are always approached in a serious, yet offbeat, manner and their fact-finding missions yield surprising results.
Like this one on...Uh, what was it on, again? Oh, oh, yeah - MEMORY. What a plastic thing the concept of mind is, consciousness is still a hotly debated issue when it comes to providing definitions, and how we flex our mnemonic muscles differs greatly also.
The Declaration of Consciousness made to allow invertebrates (such as cephalapods; octopuses, squids, and cuttlefish) to be deemed as thinking creatures with an awareness of themselves and all else implied might be a good subject for a future show.
Page Ronning

Words can in no way describe what a beautiful idea it is to contemplate. I know much of my brain time will be spent on this topic and its many implications. What does this do regarding the credability of a person's recollection of something he claims he witnessed? "I swear I saw John kill his wife!" "Objection, your honor. Who can say whether or not his memory has been erased or changed."

"Honest, Dear. You don't see me in bed with Trixie, Bubbles and JoAnn. I think your memory isn't working correctly. Now please appologise to them right now while they are putting their clothes back on."

I was very dismayed to hear a program that was based on the torture of rats. It is a moral outrage that such experiments were conducted. Then, to hear people discuss the animals' suffering with utter insouciance was chilling.

Fantastically interesting episode! But, I'm really here for the same reason as Nick....

Does anyone know the name of that song between the first and the second section of this episode. Its jazzy and the words are like "do do dodododo do do"?

Please, oh please?!

I second what Jon from Madison and Dierda form Vermont both say. Jon does not believe it is the memory itself that is erased by the drugs, and suggests it may be the feeling connection to the memory. Dierda raises the question about healing from PTSD: if one tempers with the memory, does one lose the benefits from healing?

I am a counselor and my specialty is to help people heal from difficult memories and rediscover their passion and aliveness. I agree that people can get further and further away from the original memory by thinking about it a lot. My goal as a counselor is healing. A memory is attached to sensations in the body. So when I ask people to tell me about the memory that is haunting, hurting, or obsessing them, I wait until they are ready to face their truth, and then I ask that they forget the actual story and experience what is going on in their body in that moment from the story they just told me.

I guide them to accept that energy by embracing it and giving it space, instead of fighting it as we usually do by fear of it. By embracing the energy, it moves and is eventually released. It is not unusual that a forgotten original story is remembered with heartfelt emotions. It is felt from the perspective of the person experiencing it at the time, not colored by those other people present. That is the difference with the memory they usually first start telling me. When we take on other people's interpretation, we typically make ourself wrong and we disconnect from ourself.

So when a piece of the original story comes to the surface, a true reconnecting with oneself happens. In my experience, nothing is more healing because it is the separation from being able to love who we are when a traumatic experience happens that is the real source of trauma, it is not the event itself. That is why we can heal. When the people I work with are able to feel for the first time the event from their own perspective at the time of the event, they are able to love themselves as never before and they can also forgive whoever else was involved. The result is a newly found freedom. What it is they find depends on what they gave up then.

I am wondering of the use of a drug to alleviate the effect of a memory. I would want to know if I could still guide people who used such a drug to find the gifts lost by a traumatic memory, or if the drug can give them back to themselves the way my work can. I suspect the original memory is not erased.

My work also tells me the memory is in the body, not in the brain. The remembering happens in the brain. So that explains why the lady with amnesia and whose doctor greeted her shaking her hand with a tack pricking her skin, reacted the next day before shaking his hand, even if she consciously did not remember ever meeting her doctor. What appears to be affected in amnesia is not the memory but aspects of the path to it. The problem is in the brain. The memory is in the body.

I don't believe that the drug you talk about erased any memory. All because the mouse didn't react to the beep does not necessarily mean it lost a memory. You may be confusing FEELINGS and memory. Just like the woman that got raped as a child. She didn't forget the memory, but her feelings about it changed. I did not read the research, but what was said on RadioLab is not convincing enough to make me believe the drug erases memory. Can someone clarify this?

A childhood memory:cotton candy at Coney Island--spun form with no nutritional value.

I never get tired of hearing the story of Clive. I suffer from an increasing forgetfulness myself, so I find his story especially compelling -- the sense that our very "humanness" can only exist through the virtue of memory. In a sense, we are what we've experienced. Without the memory of experiences, we collapse to the existence of a stone, or as Clive said -- death.

I get teary every time I hear his story.

I loved the part when Rob Krulwich started speaking in latin.
You all remember that part right?

As someone who is working diligently to heal from PTSD, I wonder about the drug that removes memory. My wonder is.... though the trauma experienced was great and has changed my life, do I really want to remove the positive things that I have learned from living through the experience and 'the healing' that has followed?

What is the name of the artist that painted the pastures?

Does anyone know the name of that song between the first and the second section of this episode. Its jazzy and the words are like "do do dodododo do do"?

This program indicating that memories are recreated every time they are recalled and are also changed every time they are remembered seems to have at least one frightening consequence.

Crime witnesses told to remember and repeat their memory of a crime could have it changed every time by police or attorneys.

I wanted references to the books mentioned (at least four, I think)
IU'd rather not have my name published. I expected references.

you say there is a medication or a process to erace or lessen a memory...is it being used on returning soldiers with PDS?

So basically, thousands of so called "Survivors of the Holocaust"... The more they remember, the more they are considered "Unrememberers".

If a memory is "an act of creation," what is it being created from. What does our mind draw on in order to create?

Unbelievable! I do believe your research results, but the first word that came to my mind was UNBELIEBABLE!tu

I listen to Radiolab and video game music at work. I'm pretty sure this just crossed over. Did anyone notice at 28:21 a 5 second clip from Chrono Trigger played. Sounded like Guardia Castle...Am I just linking things in my mind or is this actually there?

Glam!

This is impressive. Thanks!

Not sure why this episode does not even mention photographic memory and got more in depth about musical memory.
Also some individuals have extremely accurate memories and can't forget anything.
Especially people with autism or asperger syndrome.
I suggest a follow-up episode going more in depth.

Not surprisingly Music is something that Clive can't forget.
Music and sounds and hearing have the most immediate and direct connection to our emotions.

What is the drug discussed in the 'Eternal Sunshine' segment? They don't give the name of this drug. Does anyone know?

Well I listened to all shows and this is the only one that bothers me (ok one part of it only).I find the part with the painter horrible!Its over the top pathetic-the woman's comments is just....bad!

is there a transcript available for this?

Like i wrote in your comment section: "RE-play. The fact that people, "scientists" would rather fuck around messing with the sensetivities of innocent animals, rather than spending that time learning how to be quality human beings makes me sick."
I'm pissed,that you would even entertain the idea of enabling this kind of behavior towards animals by including it in your radio show ,in such a way, no matter what the 'justifications' are. I am disgusted, by this; and humans's feeling of entitlement towards,relying on animals to quench,their inine curiosity,and validate their college degrees and self worth.
If people would spend the time they do harrassing innocent animals and grow some balls, maybe they would actually,get people,to mourn and heal traumas from the past,like humans are supposed to do, rather than sidestepping,those issues ,and extending uneccesary suffering by projecting it on animals.

I heard a podcast the other day that I believe was somewhat old. I'm not entirely sure of the exact date but I think it was posted within the last year. It was about a man who could remember virtually everything he had ever encountered and had synesthesia. There was another man involved who also had synesthesia and was entered into a world memory championship but lost. Does anyone by any chance know the podcast I'm thinking of? If so please tell me the name. Thanks.

Just heard Memory and Forgetting two days ago. Is there a chance that there has been a significant change in what is known about suppressed memories in the 5 years since this program was created?

Hap, did you find that episode? It's called "Lost & Found" from season 9.

not realy complete

Hap, that's the episode on getting lost.

I am trying to get a transcript/podcast of your June 4 show. The piece I want is of the woman who, when turned around, lost her memory/mind/identity. She then found a group that deals with such an affliction. Please respond.

"Leave a Comment"+Name*Email: (never displayed)*URL Your Comment*

The player isn't letting me return to the story to finish it without running through the thirty-eight minutes I've already heard.

Help?

Neither of these two theories is quite accurate. Elizabeth Loftus has done some groundbreaking work, but in terms of what actually happens in the brain, it would be worth checking out the concepts of pattern separation and pattern completion. Because memory cannot by nature be acontextual, it makes more sense that memories would be stored and retrieved in this "pattern" format. Nobody's really trying to interfere with somebody's life (no brainwashing), but really trying to understand the function of this essential element of the human experience.

If memories can only be recreated, then theoretically you could only ever remember something by accident. There has to be something holding the "blueprints" for these creations.

Maybe its a mixture of the filing room theory and the recreation theory, and administering that drug at the right time just completely severs any link to where that memory is located. It would be like having a shortcut to a program on your desktop, but having no path to the file.

amazing video of savant in UK drawing Rome from memory after a 45 minute helicopter ride

Beautiful Minds: Stephen Wiltshire
http://vdh.bz/7lz

I AM THE HUMAN, PRRRRRRRAAAAATTTT PRRRAAAAATTTT G UNIT, GET YO WEIGHT UP RADIO JAYKID IS IN THE HIZZOUSE BONGS AND BONGS AND BONGS AND BUBBLERS

none of this is real. thuglife4life

Boy, talk about memory. The comment below (the best to my recollection) is better understood by going to the "Limits" episode and listeing to "Limits of the Mind". It was the story of Mr. S .

I recall a story about a noted memory expert able to recall an extraordinary amount of "things", forward, backward or randomly. He would travel around displaying his unique ability. In addition, he was studied by those in the scientific field, pushed to the limit of memory. He never failed to amaze. To make a long story short, he eventually "flipped his wig". He no longer could form or hold his OWN thoughts without a flood of previous things remembered constantly bombarding his individual thoughts or ideas. These memories never stopped. Just imagine a hughe and endless amount of data interrupting you own thoughts to the point where you lose yourself, forever.
I believe this story is from "This American Life", if not here at Radiolab.

I loved this program and searched to find the podcast. It says so much about how and why we remember as we do. Both disappointing and facinating.

Ugh. I'm trying to listen to this radiolab from school, but it's so hard to stay attentive to it. The background noises and people talking over each other make it so difficult to concentrate.

Dr Sir

My name is Arsha. I am 20 yr old. 1st year B com student and also working in Infopark ACS as a transaction processor.Now i'm in a bad situation.I don't know what is happening....

Sometimes i forgot about my past. My parents,relatives,friends,,,,,forgot everything.My mind become blank,,,,,please help me if u can,,,,
arshasharshan@gmail.com

To my understanding they are treating the brain like some thing out of a scifi movie. They are using all different kind of methods to figure out the brain and its functions. I do believe that they are messing with GOD creation and we are soon going to be walking around like robots. Memory is a part of the brain and taking pills to see if ones memory can relocate might be a bit for fetch. Trying to erase memorys or inplant memory i think can be damaging. Scientist will always want to explore the imposibilties.

bla blabla