Vanderbilt Brain Institute and Parnassus Books are pleased to present a virtual event with Lisa Genova, author of Remember: The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting, in conversation with Lisa Monteggia.
This will be a free zoom webinar hosted by Vanderbilt on Wednesday, May 26th at 11:00 am CT. Registration is required. Click here to register! Books purchased through Parnassus will have a signed bookplate while supplies last.
About the Book
Have you ever felt a crushing wave of panic when you can't for the life of you remember the name of that actor in the movie you saw last week, or you walk into a room only to forget why you went there in the first place? If you're over forty, you're probably not laughing. You might even be worried that these lapses in memory could be an early sign of Alzheimer's or dementia. In reality, for the vast majority of us, these examples of forgetting are completely normal. Why? Because while memory is amazing, it is far from perfect. Our brains aren't designed to remember every name we hear, plan we make, or day we experience. Just because your memory sometimes fails doesn't mean it's broken or succumbing to disease. Forgetting is actually part of being human.
In Remember, neuroscientist and acclaimed novelist Lisa Genova delves into how memories are made and how we retrieve them. You'll learn whether forgotten memories are temporarily inaccessible or erased forever and why some memories are built to exist for only a few seconds (like a passcode) while others can last a lifetime (your wedding day). You'll come to appreciate the clear distinction between normal forgetting (where you parked your car) and forgetting due to Alzheimer's (that you own a car). And you'll see how memory is profoundly impacted by meaning, emotion, sleep, stress, and context. Once you understand the language of memory and how it functions, its incredible strengths and maddening weaknesses, its natural vulnerabilities and potential superpowers, you can both vastly improve your ability to remember and feel less rattled when you inevitably forget. You can set educated expectations for your memory, and in doing so, create a better relationship with it. You don't have to fear it anymore. And that can be life-changing.
About the Author
Lisa Genova graduated valedictorian from Bates College with a degree in Biopsychology and has a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Harvard University. Acclaimed as the Oliver Sacks of fiction and the Michael Crichton of brain science, she is the New York Times bestselling author of novels Still Alice, Left Neglected, Love Anthony, Inside the O’Briens, and Every Note Played. Julianne Moore won the Best Actress Oscar for her role in the film adaptation of Still Alice. Every Note Played is in production, starring Christoph Waltz.
Lisa’s first work of nonfiction, Remember: The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting, released in March 2021, was an instant New York Times bestseller. Lisa’s first TED talk, What You Can Do To Prevent Alzheimer’s, has been viewed over 5 million times. Her latest TED talk, How Memory Works (and Why Forgetting is Normal) will be released April 21, 2021.
About Lisa Monteggia
Lisa Monteggia, also a professor of pharmacology, studies the role of the molecular and cellular basis of neural plasticity as it pertains to neuropsychiatric disorders. The Monteggia lab combines advanced molecular, cellular, behavioral and electrophysiological studies to probe critical scientific questions at multiple steps to establish causal links among these diverse levels of analysis. As an independent investigator, Monteggia has received numerous awards including the Daniel X. Freedman Award from the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation for outstanding research by a BBRF young investigator, the Rising Star Award from the International Mental Health Research Organization and the Daniel H. Efron Award for outstanding basic/translational research by the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. Monteggia has been recently elected as a Councilor for the Society for Neuroscience and current serves as a member of the National Institute of Health Brain Initiative Working Group that reports to the NIH Director. She is a senior editor of Neuropsychopharmacology and a member of the editorial boards of eLife, Journal of Neuroscience, Journal of Biological Chemistry, Biological Psychiatry and Hippocampus.
