Can't Remember What I Forgot

The latest research on memory loss and the aging brain

Sue Halpern is scholar-in-residence at Middlebury College and author, most recently, of Can't Remember What I Forgot: The Good News From The Front Lines of Memory Research. See full bio

October 22, 2008

Alzheimer's, Uninterrupted: The Risk of Having Genes

If Hispanics are more prone to Alzheimer’s disease, and you are not Hispanic, what does it matter to you? Plenty.
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October 20, 2008

Brain Exercises: Better than Googling?

I was giving a talk not long ago and mentioned that as far as I knew, there was only one memory trainer, developed by Posit Science (www.positscience.com), that had gone through extensive clinical trials, when a woman raised her hand and begged to differ. Well, she didn’t really beg—it was more like she insisted. Read More

October 14, 2008

Drinking Causes Your Brain To Shrink? What Else is New?

Turns out all you need to do is have two drinks (or more) a day and, voila!, honey you've shrunk your brain. Such is the news coming out today from a study of about 2000 adults: teetotalers have bigger brains (in volume) than either light drinkers or heavy drinkers, while the brains of heavy drinkers are smaller. Before you and your shrunken brain pour that bottle of pinot noir down Read More

October 13, 2008

Brain exercises: Do They Work (chapter 5)

By my count, there are three kinds of brain fitness programs--and, sorry to say, very little scientific evidence that they work. Read More

September 30, 2008

Brain Exercises: Do they work? (chapter 4)

It’s safe to say that mental fitness has graduated in status from cottage to full-blown industry. It’s grown fast, and without much oversight. Read More

September 15, 2008

Brain Exercises: Do They Work (chapter 3)

Of all the online brain gyms I’ve joined, the one I’ve been drawn back to over the years is “My Brain Trainer” (www.mybraintrainer.com). It has what I like to think of as the “Nautilus effect” –exercises that are quick and almost fun, rather like the difference between working out on Nautilus machines instead of doing endless repetitions with free weights. Read More

September 4, 2008

Brain Exercises: Do They Work (Chapter 2)?

A number of years ago, I met a Manhattan psychologist who had the idea of adapting stroke rehab software for average folks who were experiencing memory problems. These were not people who were sick but, rather, people in middle age who were not as sharp as they once were. They would come to his office and sit in front of a computer screen for an Read More

August 29, 2008

Brain exercises: Do They Work (chapter 1)

The pressing question of the age: Is The New York Times crossword puzzle going to save you from memory decline? Read More

August 20, 2008

Sweet dreams John McCain, or what?

The oft-prescribed drug Ambien has been implicated in numerous cases of sleep-driving, sleep gorging, and sleep-stealing, none of it remembered once it has worn off. John McCain, takes Ambien when he has trouble sleeping. Then what? Read More

August 13, 2008

Rape, robbery, memory

A "benign" seasickness drug, with a checkered history, has been implicated in cruise ship and date rapes, as well as robbery, and because it interferes with memory, victims are at a loss to identify their assailants. Read More

Memory Basics

Memory is a crucial part of human identity. Maybe you think of it as just "a record of stuff that happened," but if you don't know where you've been, you can't know who you are or where you're going.

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