Memories Are Made of This: How Memory Works in Humans and Animals (Maps of the Mind) - Hardcover

Bourtchouladze, Rusiko; Bourtchoudladze, Roussadan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0231120206 ISBN 13: 9780231120203

Publisher: Columbia Univ Pr, 2002

Synopsis

Having written widely on memory, Bourtchouladze summarizes the current scientific understanding for readers who have no particular background in science. She examines how the molecular genetic approach has led to new techniques and findings. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

About this title

Review

In Memories Are Made of This, Rusiko Bourtchuladze, a Georgian research scientist now working in America, produces an eminently readable synthesis of what is known about memory for the general reader. Poets and philosophers have known for thousands of years that we are our memories, without them we could barely exist as individual people. In the 4th century BC, the Greek dramatist Aristophanes recognised the existence of short and long-term memory. And yet we still do not fully understand what exactly memory is and how it comes about.

Memory is a problem. According to Bourtchuladze, too much of it produces people who have "enormous difficulty making even simple decisions, because at the same time they can think of 50 different options to choose from". Equally, losing our memory is tragic and tends to dehumanise us: "Memory defines who we are and who others are in our own minds. Memory shapes our intellectual and moral personality, the way we think, smile, say hello and behave in day-to-day life. Indeed it would be impossible to live as one person, with an individual history... without the memory threads that constantly link our present to our past and prospective future". The discoveries of the scientists who have worked on the problem of memory makes for fascinating reading with many deeply moving stories. For instance, certain brain damage can cause a loss of ability to recognise faces while other visual skills remain intact. In extreme cases people suffering from prosopagnosia, as it is called, cannot even recognise their own faces. And yet tests have shown that sometimes there is recognition at some unconscious level which just cannot surface, suggesting that face recognition is executed by a chain of commands or subprocesses, some of which continue to work but cannot be accessed by the victim. Most of us will have to face up to memory loss sooner or later, either in ourselves or in someone dear to us. Read this book for a better sympathy of the problem and understanding of what memory is. A scattering of excellent black and white illustrations and diagrams help with some of the more technical points along with notes, references and an index but do not be put off, Memories Are Made of This is perfectly accessible to the general reader.--Douglas Palmer

Review

"...is a highly readable and accessible account of recent research into memory..." -- Robert Pepperell, Leonardo "grabbed our attention immediately...this book joins a rather short list of books that would be of interest and value to students in the classroom as well as to the popular science audience...we highly recommend this book" -- Michael J. Beran & Duane M. Rumbaugh, Contemporary Psychology APA Review of Books "Reading it closely is like drinking champagne cocktails: everything starts out innocently... then bang--it hits you like a sledgehammer." -- Rob Harle, Leonardo

Edition details

• Publisher: Columbia Univ Pr
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0231120206
• ISBN 13: 9780231120203
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 199