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New smartphone app designed by University of Toronto researchers shown to significantly improve memory recall

Researchers developed HippoCamera, a new smartphone app that significantly improves memory recall by boosting attention to daily events. Users record videos and audio descriptions of everyday experiences, which are then replayed to reinforce memory consolidation.

SourceUniversity of Toronto·JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences·TypeExperimental study·DateJan 16, 2023

Forgetting past misdeeds to justify future ones

In a study published in PNAS, researchers found that when participants were informed they could return some of the money they had overreported, they forgot their past cheating behavior more accurately. This 'unethical amnesia' allowed them to restore their reputation, making it more acceptable for future moral breaches.

SourceCNRS·JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences·DateSep 29, 2020

Researchers dig into case of geologic amnesia

Scientists have long struggled to explain the 'Great Unconformity,' a phenomenon where ancient rocks sit atop much younger sediment. New research suggests that multiple smaller events may have triggered these unconformities worldwide. The findings could help better understand the origins of complex life during the Cambrian Explosion.

SourceUniversity of Colorado at Boulder·JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences·DateApr 27, 2020

How measles wipes out the body's immune memory

A study by Harvard Medical School researchers found that the measles virus depletes antibody repertoires, erasing immune memory to most previously encountered pathogens. This supports the immune amnesia hypothesis, suggesting that the vaccine's extended protective effects stem from preventing measles infection.

SourceHarvard Medical School·JournalScience·DateOct 31, 2019

Origin of a myth: The second trauma cure for amnesia

Despite medical community's understanding of brain function, the double-trauma amnesia cure belief persisted due to anecdotal evidence and flawed theories. A French scientist named Francois Xavier Bichat proposed the idea that a second blow could restore memories in the late 18th century, but his claims were not backed by specific cases.

SourceDrexel University·JournalNeurology·DateJun 14, 2016

Researchers retrieve 'lost' memories

Researchers from the RIKEN-MIT Center for Neural Circuit Genetics demonstrated that traces of old memories remain in the amnestic brain and can be reactivated, allowing lost memories to be found. The study suggests that past memories may not be erased but lost and inaccessible for recall.

SourceRIKEN·JournalScience·DateMay 28, 2015

Seeing is not remembering

Scientists tested 100 undergraduate students in a memory experiment and found that even simple pieces of information were often forgotten when not expected. However, participants performed better when the information was relevant to their current task. This suggests that people's expectations play a significant role in determining what...

SourcePenn State·JournalPsychological Science·DateJan 21, 2015

Hypnosis study reveals brain's 'amnesia centers'

Researchers discovered distinctive activity differences in specific brain areas of hypnosis-susceptible individuals, which showed suppressed or increased activity during memory suppression and recall. The study suggests that hypnosis may model forms of amnesia by affecting an early executive decision on retrieval.

After amnesia, brain lesions appear

A recent study using diffusion weighted imaging found small brain lesions appearing on MRI scans of amnesiac patients within hours and days of onset. The lesions were all located in the hippocampus, a key area for memory functions, suggesting a possible cause for transient global amnesia.

SourceAmerican Academy of Neurology·JournalNeurology·DateJun 21, 2004

University of Pittsburgh reports effects of multiple concussions in high school athletes

A University of Pittsburgh study found that prior concussions may lower the threshold for subsequent concussion injury and increase symptom severity in seemingly mild subsequent concussions. The research, which compared 60 athletes with no prior concussion history to 28 athletes with three or more concussions, showed a significant incr...

Amnesia After Sex: More Than A Washington Phenomenon

Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine discovered that bearing down hard during sex can cause transient global amnesia, a temporary inability to form new memories. The study found two cases of men experiencing confusion and amnesia after sex, linked to the Valsalva maneuver and sympathetic nervous system activation.

SourceJohns Hopkins Medicine·JournalThe Lancet·DateNov 6, 1998