Table of Contents
Chapter I Why should I care about my memory? 1
How common are memory worries? 1
Is my memory functioning normally? 2
Can I trust my memory? 8
Chapter II Evolution of our understanding of memory 13
Collapse of a banquet hall 13
Thinking in pictures 14
Memory theatre of Giulio Camillo 17
Thomas Bradwardine's advice 19
Here is how it can work for you 21
A shy bearded introvert 22
FDR and the brain 27
Albert Einstein drinking a cup of coffee 29
Mind mapping and thought tracking 32
Sunglasses and lipstick 33
Situational awareness 39
Chapter III Different types of memory 41
Dancers swaying to the music of time 41
"The magic number seven" 43
Chunking 45
Memory tools 50
Hyperphantasia and hypophantasia 53
Memory method 55
The Zeigarnik effect 58
Restaurants as memory laboratories 59
The queen of memory 60
The N-back game 64
Tamping iron meets brain 68
The Lady Gaga tickets 72
"Negative twenty questions" 74
"Smooth operator to clumsy klutz" 78
The twisties 80
The forgotten baby syndrome 82
Future memory 84
Chapter IV Memory in action 87
An Italian dinner for our sixteenth president 87
Memory training under water 90
Catchphrases 91
Always pick the biggest screen 93
Intermezzo 94
Chapter V What can go wrong? 99
Memory's mortal enemies 99
When I forget, where does my memory go? 106
The man who could not forget 109
A sense of familiarity 111
Do I know you? 113
"I have been here before" 119
Why does my coffee table seem so different? 119
An attack in the park 122
"The parrot on a balcony" 124
The war of the ghosts 125
Memory morphing 127
Gaslighting in broad daylight 129
Amnesia 131
What would it be like to lose your memory entirely? 132
Meet Mr. Henry Gustav Molaison 134
Sudden memory failures 136
Stairways to different rooms 139
Mood-dependent memories 141
Why can you never remember to loan me that book? 142
Purple! Purple! 143
Memory through a distorted mirror 144
Chapter VI The promises and perils of memory 149
"It is the star to every wandering bark" 149
Climbing a golden mountain 152
Atoms are flitting before my eyes 153
Landscape of a shared past 156
Collective memory 158
Memory wars 161
Memory laws 164
The late (?) Whitney Houston 167
Chapter VII Accessory aids to better memory 169
Drugs 169
Why siestas are good for you 170
A feast or famine 172
Coffee and tea 175
Alcohol 175
Exercise 177
Postscript 179
Let me take you to the US memory championship 179
All you ever have to know about improving memory 181
Glossary 187
Bibliography 191
Acknowledgments 193
