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The Memory Thief: And the Secrets Behind How We Remember-A Medical Mystery - Paperback | Diverse Reads

The Memory Thief: And the Secrets Behind How We Remember-A Medical Mystery

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"Extensively researched. Aguirre writes clearly, concisely, and often cinematically. The book succeeds in providing an accessible yet substantive look at memory science and offering glimpses of the often-challenging process of biomedical investigation."—Science

Sometimes, it’s not the discovery that’s hard – it’s convincing others that you’re right. The Memory Thief chronicles an investigation into a rare and devastating amnesia first identified in a cluster of fentanyl overdose survivors. When a handful of doctors embark on a quest to find out exactly what happened to these marginalized victims, they encounter indifference and skepticism from the medical establishment.

But after many blind alleys and occasional strokes of good luck, they go on to prove that opioids can damage the hippocampus, a tiny brain region responsible for forming new memories. This discovery may have implications for millions of people around the world.

Through the prism of this fascinating story, Aguirre recounts the obstacles researchers so often confront when new ideas bump up against conventional wisdom. She explains the elegant tricks scientists use to tease out the fundamental mechanisms of memory. And finally, she reveals why researchers now believe that a treatment for Alzheimer’s is within reach.

ISBN-13: 9781639362196

Media Type: Paperback

Publisher: Pegasus Books

Publication Date: 08-09-2022

Pages: 336

Product Dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.75(d)

Lauren Aguirre is an award-winning science journalist who has produced documentaries, podcasts, short-form video series, interactive games, and blogs for the PBS series NOVA, where she worked after graduating from MIT. Aguirre’s reporting on memory has appeared in The Atlantic, Undark Magazine, and the Boston Globe’s STAT. The research and writing of this book was supported in part by a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Program in Public Understanding of Science and Technology.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Prologue xiii

Part 1 Broken Brains 1

1 Case One 3

2 Questions Lead to Answers 14

3 Person, Place, and Time 24

4 Short Shrift 39

Part 2 Episodes 49

5 The Hum of the Restless Beehive 51

6 The Cluster Grows 56

7 No Place in the World 69

8 Maps and Memories 77

9 The Forgetting Disease 87

Part 3 Opioids 99

10 Learning to Be Addicted 101

11 Extreme Potency 111

12 World of Hurt 119

13 Finding Fentanyl 126

14 Taken as Prescribed 137

Part 4 Interventions 149

15 Some Part of Me Is Missing 151

16 The Next H.M. 160

17 Rebirth 169

18 Time for a Do-Over 177

19 The Flip Side of the Coin 187

Part 5 Outstanding Questions 197

20 Finding Lost Memories 199

21 The Case for Tau 207

22 The Road Ahead 212

Epilogue 223

Acknowledgments 235

A Note About Sources 239

Notes 241

Glossary 267

Credits 273

Index 275