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The second in a six-part series in which Mariella Frostrup looks at how our memory defines who we are. In this part we hear about so-called 'flashbulb' memory - when personal and public memories connect, and are shared. Martin Conway, Marina Warner and Kwame Kwei-Armah talk about collective memories and listeners contribute their own experiences.

The memory experience

Sharpen your memory. Part 2, Memorialism - the collective memory.

This programme looks at many aspects of memory from birth to old age, including how brain injuries and medical or psychological events affect memory. Beginning with how small children begin to develop an autobiographical memory, we then go on to meet John Forbes whose premature birth led to his hippocampi being damaged. He is now 30, can't remember anything from his childhood and negotiates the world by rote and written notes. Genevieve is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder following a sexual assault 9 years ago. She meets Alain Brunet who is attempting to 'tone down' the effect of her memory by using beta blocker medication and recollection-therapy. As we grow older our memory cells diminish but for people with Alzheimer's disease the loss of memory is devastating. We hear from John Stevenson who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's aged just 53; he and his wife describe how his memory loss is affecting his life and his sense of the future. Interspersed among these cases are accounts of the neurology of memory and attempts to explain some of the more baffling aspects of memory such as how we form 'mental pictures.'

Horizon

How does your memory work?

Melvyn Bragg hosts a discussion between leading neuroscientists and psychologists about the function and mechanism of dreaming. For much of the 20th century neuroscientists thought there was no meaning to dreams, and currently although neither psychiatrists nor neuroscientists know what the exact function of dreaming is, there is increasing belief that dreams are important and do have meaning. The panel here discuss ideas which have come to shape what we think dreaming is about, from the psychoanalytic theories of Freud to those of behavioural psychology, concluding with what new neurological research is uncovering about our dreaming brains.

In Our Time

Dreams.

Autobiographical memory : an introduction / Martin A. Conway.

On fourth of December 2005 David Fitzpatrick found himself outside Kings College Hospital with absolutely no recollection of who he was and how he got there. He had suffered a psychogenic fugue which wiped out his entire memory and his identity. Here we follow him as he tries to reconnect with a family he has no recollection of and to try to discover what led to his fugue in the first place. He meets Jonathan Williams at the British Museum and returns to his primary school in Peckham where his old headmaster attempts to jog his memory. From his first days at Kings College Hospital he had dreams about a mysterious woman called 'Boo' whose voice in his memory encouraged him to have her tattoo on his forearm. It later transpires that this woman was his ex-girlfriend, Emma, who he broke up with 6 months before his fugue. The break-up was so traumatic at the time that David briefly became an alcoholic and other aspects of his life fell apart at the same time - could all this have led to the fugue? His plan now is to live life to the full, but he will always be at risk that the fugue could happen all over again.

Extraordinary people.

Extraordinary people

1 videocassette (VHS) (60 min.) : sound, color, PAL.

The man with no past.

The first in a four-part series which looks at the lives of people with unusual neurological conditions. This part features Mohammed who suffers from narcolepsy and struggles to stay awake every second of the day. Similarly, Alana spends much of her time asleep. She has a very rare condition - Kleine-Levin Syndrome which affects the thallamus and hypothallamus and has taken away much of the last 4 years of her life. Mum to four Claire lost the ability to remember 25-30 years of her life following an infection from the herpes virus which entered her brain and wiped out her right temporal lobe. The same virus also destroyed much of Nicola's ability to remember but it affected her short-term memory so that she can no longer store new memories for longer than 2 minutes.

My strange brain. Part 1.

The watch man : Balnakiel / Shona Illingworth ; texts by Martin A. Conway, Caterina Albano, Steven Bode.

Flyer for a video and sound installation at InterAccess, Toronto, Canada, from April 6 - May 5, 2007.

1 sheet (folded) (8 unnumbered pages) ; 21 cm (folded)

The watch man / Shona Illingworth ; curated by Rhonda Corvese ; [science contributor, Professor Martin A. Conway].

The first in a six-part series in which Mariella Frostrup looks at how our memory defines who we are. In this part Professor Martin Conway from Leeds University explains the nature of autobiographical memories while guests including writer Louise Doughty, psychologist Mark Williams and film director Rupert Murray discuss the conncetion between identity and past experience. We also hear about new research questioning why people who cannot remember specific episodes in their life often suffer from depression.

Sharpen your memory. Part 1, Memory and identity.

A programme about memory presented by the actress and comedienne Maureen Lipman. Her father was a gentleman's outfitter and she returns to the shop where he worked. For the last 15 years of his life, he had no short-term memory. Maureen looks at how she can preserve her own memories. She visits a primary school and hears children's earliest memories. Dr Catriona Morrison, Research Psychologist, has collected these memories and explains the foundation of memory scientifically. Autobiographical memory starts at about 16 months old just as language is acquired. Lipman returns to her old secondary school for a reunion with former classmates. Professor Martin Conway, Cognitive Psychologist, talks about the 'reminiscent bump'; we have lots have memories aged 15-25 years when the 'self' is becomes fully formed. Lipman goes to UCL and visits Dr Hugo Spiers, neuroscientist; having previously completed a questionnaire, she has an MRi scan and the memories are evoked by being given word prompts. The MRi readings are then viewed. When her husband died, Maureen completed his autobiography and contacted Paul McKenna, the well-known hynotist, to hypnotise her not to cry whilst she was going publicity for the book. She returns to McKenna to find out more about his technique which involves memory. Lipman talks to two survivors of the 7/7 bombings who are undergoing post-traumatic stress therapy. Steven Williams, Professor of Imaging Sciences explains how memory is malleable. Dr Michael Mosley meets with Lipman and the actor Larry Lamb and gives them tips about remembering details and sets them a challenge to remember the names and birthdays of 25 individuals. Professor Nick Fox, Consultant Neurologist, tells Lipman about how Alzheimers changes the brain. Lipman then visits the writer Terry Pratchet who has the condition. A friend, a former photographer, is aged 101 and still alert. Mosley tests Lipman and Lamb - Lipman wins.

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Sharpen your memory. Part 2, Memorialism - the collective memory.

How does your memory work?

Dreams.

Autobiographical memory : an introduction / Martin A. Conway.

The man with no past.

My strange brain. Part 1.

The watch man : Balnakiel / Shona Illingworth ; texts by Martin A. Conway, Caterina Albano, Steven Bode.

The watch man / Shona Illingworth ; curated by Rhonda Corvese ; [science contributor, Professor Martin A. Conway].

Sharpen your memory. Part 1, Memory and identity.

Memory.

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More filters

Active filters:

Sharpen your memory. Part 2, Memorialism - the collective memory.

How does your memory work?

Dreams.

Autobiographical memory : an introduction / Martin A. Conway.

The man with no past.

My strange brain. Part 1.

The watch man : Balnakiel / Shona Illingworth ; texts by Martin A. Conway, Caterina Albano, Steven Bode.

The watch man / Shona Illingworth ; curated by Rhonda Corvese ; [science contributor, Professor Martin A. Conway].

Sharpen your memory. Part 1, Memory and identity.

Memory.

Stay in the know

Wellcome collectionWellcome Collection

Finding us:

Opening times:

Today's opening times

Wellcome collection