New Books in Science, Technology, and Society

Steve Ramirez, "How to Change a Memory: One Neuroscientist’s Quest to Alter the Past" (Princeton UP, 2025)

Jan 19, 2026

Steve Ramirez, an Associate Professor at Boston University, dives deep into the intriguing science of memory manipulation. He shares his groundbreaking work on creating false memories, revealing how memory is fluid and can be reshaped over time. Ramirez explores the ethical implications of editing memories for healing, discussing its potential to alleviate trauma and mental health issues. He also reflects on memory's role in shaping identity and forecasts exciting developments in brain science and the future of memory research.

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ANECDOTE

How Lab Culture Shaped A Career

Ramirez describes joining a supportive memory lab at Boston University after a dull first lab experience.
That environment, mentorship, and camaraderie hooked him on studying memory and shaped his career.

INSIGHT

Memories Rely On Distributed Networks

Modern work challenges the hippocampus-to-cortex handoff dogma and shows memories recruit distributed brain networks.
A shifting three-dimensional constellation of cells supports a memory and changes over time.

INSIGHT

Memory Is Reconstruction, Not A Recording

Ramirez frames memory as reconstruction, not a static recorded video, so recall inherently modifies memories.
Mood, context, and current experience bias each retrieval and reshape the memory's contents.

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As a graduate student at MIT, Steve Ramirez successfully created false memories in the lab. Now, as a neuroscientist working at the frontiers of brain science, he foresees a future where we can replace our negative memories with positive ones. In How to Change a Memory, Ramirez draws on his own memories--of friendship, family, loss, and recovery--to reveal how memory can be turned on and off like a switch, edited, and even constructed from nothing.

A future in which we can change our memories of the past may seem improbable, but in fact, the everyday act of remembering is one of transformation. Intentionally editing memory to improve our lives takes advantage of the brain's natural capacity for change.

In How to Change a Memory: One Neuroscientist’s Quest to Alter the Past (Princeton UP, 2025), Ramirez explores how scientists discovered that memories are fluid--they change over time, can be erased, reactivated, and even falsely implanted in the lab. Reflecting on his own path as a scientist, he examines how memory manipulation shapes our imagination and sense of self. If we can erase a deeply traumatic memory, would it change who we are? And what would that change mean anyway? Throughout, Ramirez carefully considers the ethics of artificially controlling memory, exploring how we might use this tool responsibly--for both personal healing and the greater good.

A masterful blend of memoir and cutting-edge science, How to Change a Memory explores how neuroscience has reached a critical juncture, where scientists can see the potential of memory manipulation to help people suffering from the debilitating effects of PTSD, anxiety, Alzheimer's, addiction, and a host of other neurological and behavioral disorders.

Steve Ramirez has been featured on CNN, NPR, and the BBC and in leading publications such as The New York Times, National Geographic, Wired, Forbes, The Guardian, The Economist, and Nature. An award-winning neuroscientist who has given TED talks on his groundbreaking work on memory manipulation, he is associate professor of psychological and brain sciences at Boston University.

Caleb Zakarin is CEO and Publisher of the New Books Network.

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