Remember: The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting

by Lisa Genova

In considering the long list of stressors you encounter regularly, I would bet that forgetting is one of them. Do you become frustrated, fearful, or worried every time you can’t remember a name, forget to pick up your dry cleaning, or puzzle over where you put your phone? Are you frequently stressed out about these kinds of routine lapses in memory? Now that you understand that acute stress can interfere with recall and that chronic stress can literally shrink your hippocampus, you know that fretting about forgetting can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. So let’s all take a collective deep breath. The next time you struggle with the name of that famous surfer or forget to buy milk at the store, you can remember that these are examples of normal forgetting and, hopefully, you can relax. Forgetting happens. If you stress about it, it will happen even more.