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How memories form and how we lose them
Think back to a really vivid memory. Got it? Now try to remember what you had for lunch three weeks ago. That second memory probably isn’t as strong—but why not? Why do we remember some things, and not others? And why do memories eventually fade? Catharine Young gives the basics on memory and memory loss.

What happens when you remove the hippocampus?
When Henry Molaison (now widely known as H.M.) cracked his skull in an accident, he began blacking out and having seizures. In an attempt to cure him, daredevil surgeon Dr. William Skoville removed H.M.'s hippocampus. Luckily, the seizures did go away — but so did his long-term memory! Sam Kean walks us through this astonishing medical case, detailing everything H.M. taught us about the brain and memory.


Additional references

Is Google Ruining Your Memory? - Yale Scientific
Is France larger or smaller than Transalpine Gaul? What is the source of the Danube River? If a 21st-century student ever needed to know, his or her reaction would be automatic — just Google it. Science can explain why we have grown increasingly reliant on Internet search engines like Google.

In the era of 'Google Effects," why memory matters - Forbes
The good news is you’re not losing your mind, you’re just adapting to the Internet age. A study, called “Google Effects on Memory,” published last week in the journal Science proves what we’ve suspected for a long time: We don’t remember as much as we should, but we sure remember how to Google for the answer.

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