Inquiring Minds Revealing Why We Remember with Charan Ranganath
29 snips
Feb 20, 2024 
Dr. Charan Ranganath, a renowned memory researcher, discusses the intricate role of memory in our lives. Topics include demoic acid poisoning in sea lions, memory formation in the hippocampus, communication strategies for memory retention, individuals with highly superior autobiographical memory, social benefits of collective memory sharing, and the evolution of memory abilities across life stages.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Sea Lions Revealed Hippocampal Role
- Charan Ranganath described scanning sea lions with domoic acid poisoning to link hippocampal damage with spatial memory failure.
- The animals washed ashore and showed impaired navigation and memory for where fish were located.
Memory Anchors Us In Time And Place
- Ranganath reframed the question from how we remember to why we remember, focusing on memory's role in anchoring us in time and place.
- He argued that without memory we would be existentially disoriented and unable to locate ourselves in conversations or life.
Event Boundaries Signal What To Remember
- The hippocampus doesn't store everything but binds diverse inputs to mark moments that matter, especially surprises and event boundaries.
- Spikes in hippocampal activity at event boundaries predict better memory and decline with age.