Excenteraften: Memories

Memories are such an essential part of our lives that it is difficult to imagine life without them. In the first part of the lecture, David will talk about how we think the brain might form new memories and recall old ones. In the second part, he will talk about whether memories are as truthful as we often believe. Most of us think of memories like a video recording of our experiences, but the reality is that our memories can change over time. In extreme cases, people can form entirely false memories of events, but maintain absolute confidence that the events were real. These findings have far reaching implications for society (are eyewitness testimonies reliable? Can the malleability of memories be used to cure post traumatic stress disorder?). David will touch on a few of these topics at the end of the talk.