Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Available On Air Stations
Watch Live

Arts & Culture

NOVA: Memory Hackers

11-year-old "super memory" kid Jake Hausler in DOT scanner at Washington University.
Courtesy of WGBH
11-year-old "super memory" kid Jake Hausler in DOT scanner at Washington University.

Airs Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2017 at 9:30 p.m. on KPBS TV

Explore the science behind the headlines in PBS’ premier science series.

Memory. Whether it’s sharp, fuzzy, poignant or thrilling, it’s the glue that binds our mental lives.

Without it we’d be prisoners of the present, unable to use the lessons of the past to change our future.

Advertisement

From our first kiss to where we put our keys, memory represents who we are and how we learn and navigate the world.

NOVA "Memory Hackers" will reveal how it works.

Memory Hackers Preview

"Scientists are learning how we can edit memories—and delete our worst fears. Airing February 10

For the first time, using cutting-edge research, neuroscientists are exploring the precise molecular mechanisms of memory.

Advertisement
Sasha Cohen, participant in Professor Merel Kindt's study at the University of Amsterdam erasing spider phobia utilizing therapy based on reconsolidation.
Courtesy of WGBH
Sasha Cohen, participant in Professor Merel Kindt's study at the University of Amsterdam erasing spider phobia utilizing therapy based on reconsolidation.

By studying individuals ranging from an 11-year-old whiz-kid who remembers every detail of his life since age eight, to a man who had his spider phobias vanquished, to a woman who even had memories implanted, scientists have uncovered a provocative idea.

11-year-old "super memory" kid Jake Hausler in fMRI scanner at Washington University.
Courtesy of WGBH
11-year-old "super memory" kid Jake Hausler in fMRI scanner at Washington University.

For much of human history, memory has been seen as a tape recorder that faithfully registers information and plays it back intact.

But now, researchers are discovering that memory is far more malleable, always being written and rewritten, not just by us but by others.

As we are discovering the precise mechanisms that explain and can even control our memories, the question is – are we ready?

Visit NOVA online to read the related article "Inside the Memory Machine" by Carrie Arnold, and to learn about the secret life of Andrè Fenton, who studies the biological basis of human memory. And he never forgets to find some quiet time to meditate.

Andrè Fenton is a recognized neuroscientist, biomedical engineer and entrepreneur working on three related problems: how brains store information in memory; how brains coordinate knowledge to selectively activate relevant information and suppress irrelevant information; and how to record electrical activity from brain cells in freely-moving subjects. He is photographed in a lab at the Center for Neural Science at New York University.
Courtesy of Beatrice de Gea for The New York Times
Andrè Fenton is a recognized neuroscientist, biomedical engineer and entrepreneur working on three related problems: how brains store information in memory; how brains coordinate knowledge to selectively activate relevant information and suppress irrelevant information; and how to record electrical activity from brain cells in freely-moving subjects. He is photographed in a lab at the Center for Neural Science at New York University.

This full episode is available to stream on demand.

NOVA is on Facebook, and you can follow @novapbs on Twitter. #NOVAnext