Rhiwbina talk explores the mysteries of memory

REPORT: Friends of Rhiwbina Library author talk - Professor John Aggleton on 'Memory: Losing, Using, and Improving'

Professor John Aggleton of Cardiff University joined the Friends of Rhiwbina Library, this week (Tuesday 9 December) to speak about the brain and memory; how we use it, lose it, and ways to improve it.

 A world expert in neuroscience, John’s research has expanded the scientific community's (and now the local Rhiwbina community's!) understanding of how memory is stored in the brain.

Through the course of his career he has examined how different areas of the brain work together to store and recall memories. His talk gave us an overview of how we remember information and how we can improve our memory.  

Beginning with a memory test for the audience where we were asked if we could remember what the road sign for a zebra crossing looked like (most couldn’t!), or whether the Queen faces left or right on a pound (about a 50/50 split in the audience), he moved on to demonstrate how we remember information – or not, as the case may be!

He noted how if we do not understand something (a piece of information) we are unlikely to remember it. For example, if I (someone who has a GCSE level knowledge of science) read one of his more data-heavy papers I would likely remember very little, as I would not understand very much of it. 

He expanded on this by explaining the idea of ‘Expert Knowledge’ noting that everyone is an expert in something, be that football, fashion, or the Friends TV show.

John showed studies which demonstrated that the more you know about a certain area, the more likely you are to remember things about it. Interestingly, if you are told a piece of information is made up or false, even if it falls in your ‘domain of expertise’ you are less likely to remember it as you deem it unimportant to remember.

He ran a study on listeners of The Archers, where groups were given one of two stories – one a made-up Archers story about buying cows, and the other, nearly identical in words and content, but about buying boats. Archers listeners were found to remember far more of the story about cows (resembling an Archers episode) over boats, as it correlated with their domain of expertise.

Furthermore, when we receive information for the first time we memorise it, using ‘schema’. A schema references how we encode information to match what we already know. In turn, when we recall that same information we match it to our schema, often adjusting memories to match frameworks we already use.

For example, when you go on holiday, how do you remember it? Do you remember by the buildings you saw or visited? The food you ate? Perhaps you remember holidays by the birds you saw? Or the trains you took? The sports matches on at the time? Do you have particular interests which guide how you remember your past moments? These interests will inform how you encode memories, and will differ completely to your friends and family.

 John gave us some memory tips as well. Part of remembering information is to do with processing. He explored the idea of ‘shallow’ and ‘deep’ learning. When we read a word, we process it on three levels which run from shallow to deep processing - structural – what does the word look like (the shape of the letters)? Phonetic – how does the word sound (how many syllables etc)?; Semantic – what does the word mean (does it have more than one meaning? What does it mean in the context of the other information?).

The more we focus on deep learning when we interact with the world – from words, to road signs, to cooking ratios – the more we are likely to remember, as we have spent more time encoding it into our brains.

He ended the talk with the thought that all our personal memories are at least partly illusion, as we construct and reconstruct them according to our own schema, biases and life experiences. No two individuals’ recollections of events will be exactly the same.

Also, a reassurance: everyone forgets things so don’t panic! You are not alone in forgetting where you left your keys! And to help you remember them make sure you put them in the same place every time or, when you are locking the door or putting them down, take a moment to process that more deeply. Concentrate on the action and you are more likely to remember it.

John was selling copies of his book Memory and the Brain: Using, Losing, and Improving at the event with proceeds going towards Brain Tumour Research. Copies of the book are available to buy here, and you can find more information about the charity here.

This is the third in this series of author talks by the Friends of Rhiwbina Library. The next talk Life with Plants will be held on 10 February and will be led by Ruth Binney, based on her books on plants and gardens with anecdotes from her career in publishing.

Online tickets will be available from the Friends of Rhiwbina Library ticketing page and further information about upcoming Rhiwbina events can be found on our events calendar.

Report and photos by Liz Scott