Unknown White Male

Amnesiac characters play a central role in a wide range of films, books, and plays. For those interested in further examining the representation of amnesia in pop culture, I recommend this interesting (and controversial) documentary that I mentioned last night. I also highly suggest a book called the Vintage Book of Amnesia, edited by Jonathan Lethem.

Clive Wearing

H.M. & the History of Memory

As you all know, the patient H.M. had a profound impact on the field of neuroscience and psychology. This NPR segment on H.M. was done almost 25 years years after his infamous operation, and about one year before he passed away. It is one of the few interviews I've heard with recordings of H.M.'s voice.

From NPR:

Weekend Edition Saturday, February 24, 2007 · In 1953, radical brain surgery was used on a patient with severe epilepsy. The operation on "H.M." worked, but left him with almost no long-term memory. H.M. is now in his 80s. His case has helped scientists understand much more about the brain.

To listen follow the link to the 'listen now" icon:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7584970

How Autobiographical Memories are Distributed Across our Lives

Linton, M. (1986). Ways of searching and the content of memory. In D. C. Rubin (ed.), Autobiographical memory (pp. 50-67). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Schacter, D. (1996). Of time and autobiography. Searching for Memory: The Brain, the Mind, and the Past. (pp. 72-98).

Rubin, D. C. & Schulkind, M.D. (1997). The distribution of autobiographical memories across the lifespan. Memory and Cognition, 25, 859-866.

Schrauf, R. W. & Rubin, D. C. (1998). Bilingual autobiographical memory in older adult immigrants: A test of cognitive explanations of the reminiscence bump and the linguistic encoding of memories. Journal of Memory and Language, 39, 1-21.

Memory Systems and Amnesia

Sacks, O. (2007). A Neurologist’s notebook. The abyss: Music and amnesia. New Yorker Magazine.

Carety, B. (2008).H. M., an Unforgettable Amnesiac, Dies at 82. The New York Times.

Schacter, D.L. (1996). Searching for Memory: The Brain, the Mind, and the Past. Chapter 5 & 6.

Sacks, O. (1995). The Last Hippie. In: O. Sacks (ed.). An Anthropologist from Mars. Random House.

Autobiographical Memory: PSYC3724R

Autobiographical memories represent the fabric of who we are as individuals, with content that ranges from mundane events to our most self-defining moments. It figures prominently in every aspect of our lives: earliest childhood recollections, developmental milestones and achievements, personal loss and public tragedy, and the breakdown of these memories across the lifespan. While autobiographical memory is one of the oldest topics within memory research it has become the subject of intense psychological study only recently. In this course we will survey and critically examine the evolution of perspectives that structure the field by juxtaposing canonical texts with current examples of empirical research. We will then draw from developmental psychology, clinical neuropsychology, personality theory, philosophy, sociology, law, and cognitive neuroscience to investigate the contexts and conditions that shape how autobiographical memory functions within individuals and between groups. We will question: How do culture, language, and gender influence the emergence of autobiographical memory and self-identity? What we can learn through diary studies? Where do these memories reside in the brain? What is the distribution of these memories across our lives? What are the effects of emotion and stress on memory? What are flashbulb memories? How accurate are eyewitness testimonies?  How do neuropsychological and psychological disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder, amnesia, and Alzheimer’s shape the past? We will also look at unusual cases of autobiographical memory such as alien abductions, multiple past lives, and memory experts. Conference work will offer students the opportunity to apply ongoing issues in autobiographical memory research to a wide range of disciplines including science, law, medicine, art, media, politics, and ethics