Memory Recall and Mental Context

Do you sometimes walk to another room in your house to get something, but then can’t remember what it was you wanted? Do you sometimes forget about an appointment or struggle to remember someone’s name?

You may have chalked these lapses in memory up to getting older. And age can indeed play a role in the diminishing power of memory. But as my guest will tell us, there are other factors at play as well.

Charan Ranganath is a neuroscientist, a psychologist, and the author of Why We Remember: Unlocking Memory’s Power to Hold on to What Matters. Today on the show, Charan explains how factors like how we direct our attention, take photos, and move through something called “event boundaries” all affect our memory, and how our current context in life impacts which memories we’re able to recall from the past. We also talk about how to reverse engineer these factors to improve your memory.

Resources Related to the Podcast

• AoM Article: 10 Ways to Improve Your Memory
• AoM Podcast #546: How to Get a Memory Like a Steel Trap
• AoM Podcast #750: The Surprising Benefits of Forgetting
• Reminiscence bump

Connect With Charan Ranganath

• Charan’s website
• Charan on IG
• Charan’s faculty page