Memory 251If you do not have Alzheimer’s or another dementia, taking coconut oil may not do much of
anything except adversely affect your blood work on your next trip to the doctor.
Fish oil supplements have a slightly better track record for helping slow the rates of
cognitive decline in people with Alzheimer’s disease but may do very little for healthy people
(Connor et al., 2012; Daiello et al., 2014). The safest advice to improve your memory and
possibly prevent or postpone any symptoms of dementia may simply be to remain mentally
active (Naqvi et al., 2013). Work crossword puzzles, read, and keep those neurons firing!What Were We Talking About? Forgetting
Why do we forget things? And why do we forget some things
but not others?Most of us, at some point in our busy lives, have trouble remembering things, especially
events from the distant past. What if you could remember nearly every day of your life? This
rare ability is possessed by Brad Williams, who is known as the “Human Google.” Brad is one
of a small group of individuals with a syndrome called hyperthymesia (hī-per-thī-mē-sē-uh).
A person with hyperthymesia not only has an astonishing and rare ability to recall specific
events from his or her personal past but also spends an unusually large amount of time think-
ing about that personal past. Brad can recall almost any news event or personal event he
himself has experienced, particularly specific dates—and even the weather on those dates.
You may think that being able to remember everything like Brad Williams would
be wonderful. But it’s important to consider that people with hyperthymesia not only
have the ability to remember nearly everything but also have the inability to forget.
The ability to forget may be nearly as vital to human thought processes as the ability
to remember. William James, one of the founders of the field of psychology, said, "If
we remembered everything, we should on most occasions be as ill off as if we remem-
bered nothing" (James, 1890, 2002). Adaptive forgetting is the idea that being able to
suppress information that we no longer need makes it easier to remember what we
do need (Kuhl et al., 2007; MacLeod, 1998; Nairne, 2015; Wimber et al., 2015.) Learn
more about Brad Williams and hyperthymesia in the video Reasons for Forgetting.
CCWatch the Video Reasons for Forgetting