Aggleton J.P. Memory and the Brain: Using, Losing, and Improving

Routledge, 2025. — 279 p.Memory and the Brain explores the fascinating psychology and neuroscience of human memory.
Written by a world expert in the field, John P. Aggleton, this book covers learning and memory from the very beginning of life to its end, with an emphasis on real-world applications throughout. Aggleton begins by considering the fallibility of long-term memory and explores the many reasons why we forget. He goes on to contrast this with superior memory and examines what, if anything, is special about individuals with remarkable memory powers, and how might we improve our own memory. The significance of sleep, our ability to ‘remember’ the future, the various brief memory stores, and the multiple forms of amnesia are also covered, as well as the most common forms of dementia – including Alzheimer's disease. The book concludes with an Alphabet of Memory Curiosities, which showcases a diverse range of topics: from aphantasia to zebrafish, stopping off at topics such as Jennifer Aniston neurons, bilingualism, and neuromyths in education.
Drawing on classic studies alongside many discoveries from contemporary research, this book is written for anyone curious about how our memory works and will appeal to students and general readers alike.Acknowledgements
Preface
Memories make us who we are
From before birth to adolescence
Mothers and unborn babies
Infant and children’s memories
Childhood amnesia
Getting a bad start to life
Adulthood, aging, and superaging
How accurate and durable are our adult memories?
The case for permanent episodic memories
The case against permanent episodic memories
Comprehension, encoding, and recall
Why do we forget?
Context and memory
Superior memory in individuals: Mnemonists, memory champions, and savants
Superior memory for all: Mnemonics, imagery, and skilled performance
Mnemonics
Other mnemonics
Imagery and skilled performance
‘Smart drugs’, supplements, and self-brain stimulation
The quest for cognitive enhancers
The value of sleep
Why sleep?
Imagination, future memory, and prospective memory
Future memory
Prospective memory
Recognition memory and illusions of familiarity
Recognition memory
Question one: Can recall and recognition be separated?
Question two: Can familiarity-based recognition and recollective-based recognition be separated?
Brief memory stores: Sensory memory
Sensory memory
Brief memory stores: Short-term memory
What is and isn’t short-term memory?
Brief memory stores: Working memory
Working memory – the mental blackboard
Losing memory: Real amnesias and simulated amnesias
A sudden loss of memory
Anterograde amnesia
Retrograde amnesia
The surprising case of developmental amnesia
Transient global amnesia
Psychogenic amnesia
Faking amnesia
Drug induced amnesia
Losing memory: Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias
The belated appreciation of dementing diseases
Alzheimer’s disease
Other dementias
An alphabet of memory curiosities
A Aphantasia: People who lack imagery
B Bilingualism: Does it aid memory?
Dwyieithrwydd: Ydy e’n cynorthwyo’r cof?
C Computerised brain training: Does it work?
D Duplicates, delusions, and familiarity disorders
E Exercise: Is it worth it?
F Food preferences and learnt taste aversions
G The ‘generation effect’, the Aha! moment, and memory
H Hypnosis, memory, and the law
I Illusions of learning and illuminating text
J Jennifer Aniston neurons
K Knowing your own memory: Metacognition and metamemory
L L learners: Spaced versus massed practice
M Mozart, music, and memory
N Neuromyths in education: Eight seductive ideas
O Openness and the three Rs (reproducibility, robustness, and replicability)
P Parrot learning: Learning by rote
QI Quite interesting and quite curious
R Return trip effect
S Surprise and memory
T Truth serums
U Unconscious learning: Can you learn when anaesthetised?
V Vegetative brain state, awareness, and new learning
W White matter learning
XX XY Sex differences and memory
Y Y is money called money? The worship of memory
Z Being at the end of the alphabet: Good or bad? (not to forget zebrafish)
Naming the brain
Twenty (plus one) ways to improve your memory
References
Index