Memory: The Key to Consciousness

Description

Memory is perhaps the most extraordinary phenomenon in the natural world. Every person's brain holds millions of bits of information in long-term storage. This vast memory store includes our extensive vocabulary and knowledge of language; the tremendous and unique variety of facts we've amassed; all the skills we've learned, from walking and talking to musical and athletic performance; many of the emotions we feel; and the continuous sensations, feelings, and understandings of the world we term consciousness. Without memory there can be no mind as we understand it. Focusing on cutting-edge research in behavioral science and neuroscience, Memory is a primer of our current scientific understanding of the mechanics of memory and learning. Over the past two decades, memory research has accelerated and we have seen an explosion of new knowledge about the brain. For example, there now exists a wide-ranging and successful applied science devoted exclusively to the study of memory that has yielded better procedures for eliciting valid recollections in legal settings and improved the diagnosis and treatment of memory disorders. Everyone fascinated by the scope and power of the human brain will find this book unforgettable.

Richard F. Thompson is the William M. Keck Chair in Biological Sciences and professor of psychology and biological sciences at the University of Southern California. Stephen A. Madigan is associate professor of psychology at the University of Southern California.

"[A] useful and cheerfully accessible account of current ideas on the phenomenology of, and neurophysiological processes associated with, memory formation."--Steven Rose, Times Higher Education Supplement "[An] entertaining review of the current science of memory."--Anne Harding, Lancet "The success of their book is due to their articulate descriptions, memorable anecdotes, intriguing case studies, provocative 'self experiments,' clever illustrations, and (most important) rigorous judgment... Ranging from drug addiction to autism, from dreaming to brain physiology, this book lives up to its title. Essential."--Choice