There are several aspects of the chapter that stood out to me. One of the most prevalent ones was that there are different types of memory. We can somehow block out bad things that have happened to us, but depending on the mood that we are in the memories of the event/or events can come flooding back. We also have a tendency to make certain activities second nature such as, waking up and brushing out teeth. We do not have to think about brushing our teeth because once we do it enough, it becomes ingrained in our minds to do so.
Alzheimer's patients have trouble remembering names and faces, however if you tell them to take you to their house or to a place they frequented many years earlier, they can do so because they have travelled the path to those places so many times before. The reason for this phenomena is because their long term memories are not effected by the disease. The effects are felt in the part of the brain that controls short-term memory.
Science behind the phenomenon:
People were shown a crime but they all describe the same crime in different ways. This is why at times eye witness testimony can be shaky because people see things in different ways. They can be influenced by others takes on the same event. Other people can make you think you saw something. This was demonstrated by an experiment aired on the Discovery channel where people were placed into a room and shown a crime and asked to describe what they had seen. The test subjects were influenced by what the teacher said about the suspect's nose when she was describing the suspect. The teacher said he had a big nose, but turns out he didn't have a big nose at all, but she persuaded them to believe that.
Hey Jordan! Very nice blog post! I also have a great interest in alzheimers! Its such a complex disease
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