Mnemonology (MEMORY) with Dr. Michael Yassa

Part 1: How are memories made? Where are they stored? Where do they go? What was I just talking about? Neurobiologist, professor, researcher, and Director of UC Irvine’s Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, Dr. Michael Yassa, joins us for a two-parter deep diving into our memories. Get to know the cells that run your life while he also busts flim-flam, and talks about movie myths, aging and memory loss, childbirth amnesia, what happens when you cram for a test, hormones and memory, that thing where you can’t remember a word, how to let go of the past, and more. Next week, we’ll follow up with your Patreon questions about Alzheihmer’s, remembering people’s names, neurodivergence, dementia, collective misremembering, and so much more. Commit it to memory. 

Listen via Apple, Spotify, iHeart, Podbay, Podcast Addict, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Part 2: Remembering names! Preventing dementia! Photographic memories! Weed! Goldfish! It’s the thrilling conclusion of Mnemonology with Dr. Michael Yassa, the Director of UC Irvine’s Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory. We talk long vs. short term memories, how smells can pack a wallop of emotions, prosopagnosia (“facial blindness”), the fog of new parenthood, Alzheimer's and other causes of dementia, and tips to keep your brain in tip-top shape. Let’s make some mems.

Listen via Apple, Spotify, iHeart, Podbay, Podcast Addict, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Follow Dr. Yassa on Google Scholar and X

Visit the Yassa Translational Neuroscience Laboratory at UCI website

A donation went to UC Irvine Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory’s graduate student and postdoctoral fund


Links to things we discussed:

Mnemonic training reshapes brain networks to support superior memory

Clinical Manifestations of Body Memories: The Impact of Past Bodily Experiences on Mental Health

Hyperthymesia

Hyper memory, synaesthesia, savants Luria and Borges revisited

Multimodal learning

Maximizing Space: How Many 40-Foot Containers Fit on Modern Cargo Ships?

How Much Does a Bale of Hay Weigh?

Are There Really as Many Neurons in the Human Brain as Stars in the Milky Way?

Long-term potentiation

Types of glia

Hippocampus in health and disease: An overview

Coordinating Words and Sentences: Detecting Age-Related Changes in Language Production

Clinical Manifestations of Body Memories: The Impact of Past Bodily Experiences on Mental Health

Memory for Labor Pain: A Review of the Literature

Traumatic Memories of Childbirth Relate to Maternal Postpartum Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Relationship between birth memories and recall and perception of traumatic birth in women in the postpartum one-year period and affecting factors

UCI’s Autobiographical Memory Questionnaire

“I wouldn’t have a career without the LGBTQ+ community”: Charli XCX on pop culture, heritage and using her voice for good


Other episodes you may enjoy:

Attention-Deficit Neuropsychology (ADHD)

Molecular Neurobiology (BRAIN CHEMICALS)

Eudemonology (HAPPINESS)

Traumatology (PTSD)

Sports & Performance Psychology (ANXIETY & CONFIDENCE)

Phonology (LINGUISTICS)

Neuropathology (CONCUSSIONS)


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Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jacob Chaffee

Managing Director: Susan Hale

Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth 

Transcripts by Aveline Malek

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

The BrainAlie Ward