Memory is a fundamental function of the brain that allows us to store and retrieve information. Memory neuroscience explores the neural mechanisms involved in learning, remembering and forgetting.
This section examines different forms of memory such as episodic memory, semantic memory and working memory.
Remembering a place, a route, or a familiar event feels effortless. However, beneath this apparent simplicity lies a highly complex orchestration of electrical signals. A study published in Nature Communications in 2025 by a research team from the University of Freiburg reveals that human memory partly relies on a rhythmic coordination mechanism between neurons, comparable…
Forgetting a painful memory on purpose has been a dream as old as memory itself. Since antiquity, humanity has sought in forgetfulness a way to ease its inner wounds. In Greek mythology, the souls descending into the Underworld would drink the waters of the river Lethe to erase their memories before being reborn into a…
On June 8, 2000, a letter arrived on the desk of Professor James McGaugh, a neuroscientist at the University of California, Irvine. It was from a woman named Jill Price, who described a memory she could not escape. Since the age of 14, she claimed, every single day of her life had been etched into…
One winter day, in a simple cup of tea, a writer rediscovers the past. As soon as the madeleine touches his lips, a wave of sensations overwhelms him: Sundays in Combray, Aunt Léonie’s voice, warm light on the walls, and the buried scents of a lost summer resurface with stunning intensity. This memory, long inaccessible…
A word, an image, a glimpse of a familiar face in a crowd; sometimes, that’s all it takes for a memory to resurface. It emerges with the clarity and conviction of a moment truly lived. We remember it. We’re certain of it. Or so we believe. Because at times, the memory in question never happened…
What if our memory wasn’t as limited as we believe? Remembering every name, every face, or even the smallest details of a book read years ago isn’t a fantasy reserved for geniuses. In a world where we increasingly outsource our memories to devices, Joshua Foer invites us, through his 2011 book Moonwalking with Einstein, to rediscover…
There are times in life when we wish we could erase certain memories, painful or burdensome recollections that loom over our everyday lives. However, forgetfulness, a process that may seem passive, remains one of the most enigmatic functions of the brain. This mystery grows even deeper when forgetting becomes sudden, severe, and utterly uncontrollable. Such…
Imagine yourself standing on a stage, illuminated by dozens of spotlights, facing an audience hanging on your every word, keenly attuned to even the slightest misstep. And yet, each line, each phrase flows effortlessly from your lips, as if it were etched into your mind. How do theater actors manage to memorize entire pages of…
Memory, which links us to our past and shapes our sense of identity, is the thread that allows us to recognize ourselves over time. But what happens when this thread breaks, when memories fade, and the past becomes inaccessible? Retrograde amnesia is a world where landmarks disappear, leaving individuals adrift in a present without roots….
Sometimes, in the midst of an ordinary moment, a scene, location, or conversation can trigger a strange, unsettling feeling: the sense that this instant has already been lived, even though we know that’s impossible. Called “déjà vu,” this phenomenon has intrigued scientists, philosophers, and poets for centuries. It affects about two-thirds of people at some…