A novelist and a neuroscientist uncover the secrets of human
memory.
What makes us remember? Why do we forget? And what, exactly, is a
memory?
With playfulness and intelligence, Adventures in Memory answers these
questions and more, offering an illuminating look at one of our most
fascinating faculties. The authors--two Norwegian sisters, one a
neuropsychologist and the other an acclaimed writer--skillfully
interweave history, research, and exceptional personal stories, taking
readers on a captivating exploration of the evolving understanding of
the science of memory from the Renaissance discovery of the
hippocampus--named after the seahorse it resembles--up to the present
day. Mixing metaphor with meta-analysis, they embark on an incredible
journey: "diving for seahorses" for a memory experiment in Oslo fjord,
racing taxis through London, and "time-traveling" to the future to
reveal thought-provoking insights into remembering and forgetting. Along
the way they interview experts of all stripes, from the world's top
neuroscientists to famous novelists, to help explain how memory works,
why it sometimes fails, and what we can do to improve it.
Filled with cutting-edge research and nimble storytelling, the result is
a charming--and memorable--adventure through human memory.
