Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Glad to Know
The existing photos (art directed) about forgetfulness are so cheesy. I do not want mine to be one of those cheeses.
Mini Reminder Offers Help for the Forgetful
If you're a forgetful person, you know that always misplacing your wallet, keys, PDA, or children turns from an endearing foible to an infuriating and expensive curse pretty quickly. Perhaps you could use some help, and your options are pretty limited. You could go to a hypnotist to fix your faults, or you could just get this Mini Reminder to do the remembering for you. The Mini Reminder is a two-part device, with a receiver that clips onto your belt and a transmitter that clips onto whatever valuable you're most worried about misplacing. If you happen to move 10 to 25 feet away (you can set the distance), the gadget will beep or vibrate at you until you go retrieve it. You can also hook up multiple transmitters to one receiver, so you won't be able to leave without your wallet, iPod, and umbrella. Just imagine all the trouble you'll save when it forces you to remember to take, say, your medication with you when you head out on vacation, or your baby with you when you leave the supermarket. The possibilities are endless. The Mini Reminder is $40 and available online now.
Londoners the Most Forgetful Taxi Passengers
London is the greatest security risk as found in a global survey of 2000 taxi drivers from eleven major cities around the world which shows that thousands of valuable mobile phones, handhelds, laptops and USB Sticks are forgotten in taxis every day.
Mountains of mobiles are left every day by fretful and forgetful travellers at the back of city cabs as passengers rush to leave taxis for their next destination, a new survey reveals.
In the last six months alone, Londoners have forgotten a staggering 54,874 mobile phones (that’s over 2 per taxi), 4,718 handhelds or Pocket PCs, 3,179 laptops and 923 USB stick drives at the back of licensed taxi cabs and there just the ones that have been reported.
London is not alone when it comes to forgetful travellers. It would seem the story of lost and forgotten mobiles echoes around the world with the same fate afflicting Sydney, Bombay, Stockholm, San Francisco, Washington, Helsinki, Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich and Oslo.
However, of all the cities London still comes out on top as the capital with the most forgetful population losing more mobile phones than any other city, followed by Bombay travellers who have lost a total of 32,970 and Sydney citizens who come third with 6,440 mobile phones reported as lost. Interestingly the survey found that when it came to handheld devices such as Pocket PCs London once again came top with 4,718, Washington came out in second place with 2,260 and the Germans were also forgetful with their devices in Munich losing 1,902 and Berlin 1,125.
The numbers of lost laptops was also highest in London at 3,179 with Munich in second place with 355 and Bombay in third place with 349.
In light of these staggering figures Pointsec (mobile security experts) who conducted the survey is encouraging business and individual users to back-up, encrypt and password protect their device in the event of it falling into the wrong hands and the data then being stolen, compromised or abused.
Mobiles a potential Security Threat
A warning message to the business community and individuals to be vigilant when travelling with their mobile devices has never been more relevant as this survey comes at a time when the latest crop of mobile phones are now capable of storing 4Gb of memory. That’s equivalent to physically storing data on 400 boxes of paper in 9 filing cabinets with the capacity to retain 4 million emails and 4000 songs.
The space provided by these recent 'must have' mobiles means business travellers can now use them as a mobile office and a convenient replacement to the home filing cabinet to store a host of personal and business data including customer and personal names and addresses, pictures, insurance details, bank account and credit card information, NI numbers, and other highly sensitive data, making it even more important to secure the data, in the event that the device is lost.
Peter Larsson, CEO for Pointsec said: “This survey shows that no-one is infallible and looking at this survey’s findings you look to stand a pretty good chance of losing a mobile device in a cab or indeed any public place. With the new breed of phones being able to store 4Gb, users need to be aware of the amount of power and data they are literally carrying around in their hands. If your device falls into the wrong hands take a moment to think about how it could affect your livelihood especially if it has not been probably secured. Our advice is that if you have something valuable stored on your mobile device, then make use of all the security that comes with it or encrypt it – that way when you do lose it, no-one will be able to read your data!”
Taxis a safe place to lose your mobiles
There is some good news for our absent minded travellers though in that, if you are going to lose your mobile device, you couldn’t do it a better place than a taxi!
That is according to the findings of the survey: globally an average of 75% of passengers were reunited with their mobile phones and 78% with their Pocket PCs and Laptops – with the cab drivers in almost all cases tracking down their owners. Once again London came out on top – this time for having the most honest drivers with 96% of all mobile phones reported as being re-united with their happy owners.
However, the case was very different in San Francisco with just 32% of passengers being reconciled with their mobile phones and just 32% getting back their laptops compared to 100% in Bombay, Berlin and 97% in London!
Not just mobiles, but pork chops, babies, drunken women, judges wigs and machine guns...
When asked what was the strangest items left in their taxis it was interesting to note that around the world a large number of people strangely leave their false teeth at the back of cabs and it was not uncommon to hear of artificial limbs being forgotten in almost every country surveyed!
UK taxi drivers admitted to finding a telescope, a drunken women left as a tip by her boyfriend, a machine gun and £100,000 worth of diamonds.
In Helsinki a taxi driver found secret papers from the military forces and in London a cabbie returned a laptop belonging to an employee from the United Nations which he managed to return after turning on the device and finding out who owned it – which nicely shows why it’s so important to encrypt and password protect every device to stop less scrupulous individuals from tampering with the information.
So if you don’t want to risk a virtual custard pie in the face from family, friends or your employer, heed the message and protect both your device and yourself.
Mountains of mobiles are left every day by fretful and forgetful travellers at the back of city cabs as passengers rush to leave taxis for their next destination, a new survey reveals.
In the last six months alone, Londoners have forgotten a staggering 54,874 mobile phones (that’s over 2 per taxi), 4,718 handhelds or Pocket PCs, 3,179 laptops and 923 USB stick drives at the back of licensed taxi cabs and there just the ones that have been reported.
London is not alone when it comes to forgetful travellers. It would seem the story of lost and forgotten mobiles echoes around the world with the same fate afflicting Sydney, Bombay, Stockholm, San Francisco, Washington, Helsinki, Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich and Oslo.
However, of all the cities London still comes out on top as the capital with the most forgetful population losing more mobile phones than any other city, followed by Bombay travellers who have lost a total of 32,970 and Sydney citizens who come third with 6,440 mobile phones reported as lost. Interestingly the survey found that when it came to handheld devices such as Pocket PCs London once again came top with 4,718, Washington came out in second place with 2,260 and the Germans were also forgetful with their devices in Munich losing 1,902 and Berlin 1,125.
The numbers of lost laptops was also highest in London at 3,179 with Munich in second place with 355 and Bombay in third place with 349.
In light of these staggering figures Pointsec (mobile security experts) who conducted the survey is encouraging business and individual users to back-up, encrypt and password protect their device in the event of it falling into the wrong hands and the data then being stolen, compromised or abused.
Mobiles a potential Security Threat
A warning message to the business community and individuals to be vigilant when travelling with their mobile devices has never been more relevant as this survey comes at a time when the latest crop of mobile phones are now capable of storing 4Gb of memory. That’s equivalent to physically storing data on 400 boxes of paper in 9 filing cabinets with the capacity to retain 4 million emails and 4000 songs.
The space provided by these recent 'must have' mobiles means business travellers can now use them as a mobile office and a convenient replacement to the home filing cabinet to store a host of personal and business data including customer and personal names and addresses, pictures, insurance details, bank account and credit card information, NI numbers, and other highly sensitive data, making it even more important to secure the data, in the event that the device is lost.
Peter Larsson, CEO for Pointsec said: “This survey shows that no-one is infallible and looking at this survey’s findings you look to stand a pretty good chance of losing a mobile device in a cab or indeed any public place. With the new breed of phones being able to store 4Gb, users need to be aware of the amount of power and data they are literally carrying around in their hands. If your device falls into the wrong hands take a moment to think about how it could affect your livelihood especially if it has not been probably secured. Our advice is that if you have something valuable stored on your mobile device, then make use of all the security that comes with it or encrypt it – that way when you do lose it, no-one will be able to read your data!”
Taxis a safe place to lose your mobiles
There is some good news for our absent minded travellers though in that, if you are going to lose your mobile device, you couldn’t do it a better place than a taxi!
That is according to the findings of the survey: globally an average of 75% of passengers were reunited with their mobile phones and 78% with their Pocket PCs and Laptops – with the cab drivers in almost all cases tracking down their owners. Once again London came out on top – this time for having the most honest drivers with 96% of all mobile phones reported as being re-united with their happy owners.
However, the case was very different in San Francisco with just 32% of passengers being reconciled with their mobile phones and just 32% getting back their laptops compared to 100% in Bombay, Berlin and 97% in London!
Not just mobiles, but pork chops, babies, drunken women, judges wigs and machine guns...
When asked what was the strangest items left in their taxis it was interesting to note that around the world a large number of people strangely leave their false teeth at the back of cabs and it was not uncommon to hear of artificial limbs being forgotten in almost every country surveyed!
UK taxi drivers admitted to finding a telescope, a drunken women left as a tip by her boyfriend, a machine gun and £100,000 worth of diamonds.
In Helsinki a taxi driver found secret papers from the military forces and in London a cabbie returned a laptop belonging to an employee from the United Nations which he managed to return after turning on the device and finding out who owned it – which nicely shows why it’s so important to encrypt and password protect every device to stop less scrupulous individuals from tampering with the information.
So if you don’t want to risk a virtual custard pie in the face from family, friends or your employer, heed the message and protect both your device and yourself.
Related Image
Oops! This is an old idea. Haha! I thought it would be original. Maybe I can exaggerate it.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Mr. Forgetful
You might have been familiar with this cartoon, but it is new to me. The narrator speaks too fast! I can not follow!
Club Forgetful
http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/CaT-C/archive?l=f&id=41
Someone established Club Forgetful, but I believe this club has been forgotten since it has not been updated for a long long time. It contains a lot of interesting events about forgetfulness, but it is in Chinese.
Someone established Club Forgetful, but I believe this club has been forgotten since it has not been updated for a long long time. It contains a lot of interesting events about forgetfulness, but it is in Chinese.
The Forgetful Boss
Boss:
The conference on August the 1st is very important. Please remind me.
Secretary:
It took place the day before yesterday.
Boss:
Oh my God! I forgot to attend it!
Secretary:
You have already been there.
The conference on August the 1st is very important. Please remind me.
Secretary:
It took place the day before yesterday.
Boss:
Oh my God! I forgot to attend it!
Secretary:
You have already been there.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Humour
This is the kind of humour and creativity I am looking for: http://www.art-studios.de/home/index.php?play=pommes.
Information Share
The "Voices of White City" project is a good and successful example of sharing information. First of all and the most important of all, it attracts people to participate in this sharing process because it is fun and simple. People peel off stickers and stick them everywhere, which helps get this project widely knownly. The left stickers on the wall reveal the messages.
Abnormal Psychology
The series of designs for Hans Brinker Budget Hotel are good examples of "abnormal psychology" if it is what I intend to mean. Take a look at their website too: http://www.hans-brinker.com/.
Concepts
The most difficult part of a design project is to explain. Oh god! I have my ideas deep in my mind, but I just can not translate them into a language (especially English). Forgive me.
When thinking about a concept, I always keep my objective in mind.
"Enhance people’s understanding of forgetfulness to change their negative feelings towards forgetfulness into being slightly more relaxed and forgiving."
The key words are "understanding" and "change", which I immediately relate to "informational" and "interactive", "awaken" and "action".
I am so afraid of the word "concept". No matter how many times I try, people still do not think my "concepts" are concepts. Let me try one more time.
As I rewrote and re-considered my proposal, I realized I have mentioned two "concepts".
1. Metaphor of forgetfulness. Basically, I will use metaphor to explain the mechanism of forgetfulness and its related things such as retrieval failure so that it is not boring, hopefully. This approch is more scientific.
2. Evoke an echo of people's experience. Simply, it is experience share, to discover the interesting, humorous, and "lovely" aspects of forgetfulness. This is quite similar to the thesis.
However, in my proposal I discuss these two together as if they are bonded. I believe that a design can achieve both of them. In this sense, maybe they are not even concepts? Are they too specific? Let me try again.
1. Forgetfulness and forgiveness. Troubles caused by forgetting things are not intentional, and we commonly have ever had. Should not we be more forgiving to forgetfulness?
2. Abnormal psychology. I am not sure if that is what I mean, but Kessels Kramer does a lot of such designs like Hans Brinker Budget Hotel. Since this project is about "negative" to "positive", when over emphasizing "negative", people will shift to "positive". Humour is the most important role in this concept.
3. Compare and contrast. What are the similaities between two forgetful people? What are the differences between a forgetful person and a remindful one? What are the similarities and differences between forgetting your best friend's birthday and forgetting your dog's? It can be something "stupid". It is mainly about experience share.
I hope at least one of my five "concepts" is a real concept. Thanks!
When thinking about a concept, I always keep my objective in mind.
"Enhance people’s understanding of forgetfulness to change their negative feelings towards forgetfulness into being slightly more relaxed and forgiving."
The key words are "understanding" and "change", which I immediately relate to "informational" and "interactive", "awaken" and "action".
I am so afraid of the word "concept". No matter how many times I try, people still do not think my "concepts" are concepts. Let me try one more time.
As I rewrote and re-considered my proposal, I realized I have mentioned two "concepts".
1. Metaphor of forgetfulness. Basically, I will use metaphor to explain the mechanism of forgetfulness and its related things such as retrieval failure so that it is not boring, hopefully. This approch is more scientific.
2. Evoke an echo of people's experience. Simply, it is experience share, to discover the interesting, humorous, and "lovely" aspects of forgetfulness. This is quite similar to the thesis.
However, in my proposal I discuss these two together as if they are bonded. I believe that a design can achieve both of them. In this sense, maybe they are not even concepts? Are they too specific? Let me try again.
1. Forgetfulness and forgiveness. Troubles caused by forgetting things are not intentional, and we commonly have ever had. Should not we be more forgiving to forgetfulness?
2. Abnormal psychology. I am not sure if that is what I mean, but Kessels Kramer does a lot of such designs like Hans Brinker Budget Hotel. Since this project is about "negative" to "positive", when over emphasizing "negative", people will shift to "positive". Humour is the most important role in this concept.
3. Compare and contrast. What are the similaities between two forgetful people? What are the differences between a forgetful person and a remindful one? What are the similarities and differences between forgetting your best friend's birthday and forgetting your dog's? It can be something "stupid". It is mainly about experience share.
I hope at least one of my five "concepts" is a real concept. Thanks!
A Sketch About the Previous Ideas
Are people absolutely forgetful? I think it is relative.
In an information overwhelming environment, because there are too many thought bubbles (metaphor), and you have a fixed numbers of wires and plugs, you can only "choose" to remember some things, at that particular moment. The wires plug to different thought bubbles as the environment changes. For example, (this is not necessarily true) at school you probably remember more assignments than at home. This situation is called locational context-dependant. Now you know it is quite reasonable for us to forget doing some homework. Do not blame us.
In a leisure environment, because there are only a few thought bubbles, our wires and plugs are likely excessive. Since thought bubbles are floating everywhere, the excessive wires tend to plug to them randomly. That explains why we indulge in wild flights of fancy in a leisure environment.
Some Ideas
As usual, I am doing a cheesy mood board thing like this. This was from last week, but I did not get a chance to explain it. Nevertheless, I am better at writting my ideas down instead of speaking up.
There are basically two types of forgetfulness. One is that the memory is totally lost (deleted), and the other is that the memory is there but can not be retrieved at a particular moment (called retrieval failure). In this project, I focus on the latter since if you do not remember what you forget, you will not even realize you forget something.
As I find more information about retrieval failure, I have a metaphor for it. Memory functions as if wires and plugs coming out of our heads and connecting to the thoughts (bubbles, which is a quite cliche metaphor). The thoughts are not inside our brains, but floating all around, which is more convenient for the wires to plug in. When the wires are unplugged, the thought bubbles fly away, and that is the way you forget things.
Forgetful people, I believe, their plugs are easier to fall off, so it is easier for them to forget things. I am one of those people with loose plugs.
You know you can click an images and enlarge it, right? Thanks!
My Rewritten Proposal
I have used all of my resources to get this proposal rewritten. I hope you understand what my point is. Thanks!
In every day life people experience many events where they forget things, whether they are minor or major. For example, they might forget to bring their keys so they can not get in the houses. Forgetfulness indeed brings us troubles. As a result, people usually have a bad feeling about it. We often associate forgetfulness with unintelligence, aging, and illness, such as Alzheimer’s disease. There are many causes of forgetfulness, and scientists are yet to discover even more. In fact, we all have moments when we forget things. None of us wants to forget things, but sometimes it is just inevitable. People should not be so hard on themselves when forgetfulness strikes.
I propose to create design to break the negative associations of forgetfulness. I am going to show that forgetfulness can be a vivid and humorous natural phenomenon in humans, by visualizing and personalizing its characteristics, instead of a potential negative medical symptom.
The objective of this project is to enhance people’s understanding of forgetfulness to change their negative feelings towards forgetfulness into being slightly more relaxed and forgiving.
Aging is a natural and unavoidable factor in affecting forgetfulness. Targeting an elderly audience whose memories have been declining due to aging will be disrespectful. Thus, this project is aimed towards a demographic that is relatively young and within the age group of sixteen to twenty-five-year olds who have an optimum memory capacity. I am confident in targeting this audience because of my similarity in age. This audience is the most active, and they will come across many situations where they will forget things. Not only once, but several times I found unplugged USB sticks in our computer rooms. People with experiences such as those who left their USB sticks are some typical examples of my target audience. Stress from studies might be the cause of their forgetfulness; after missing their important belongings, more stress and unpleasantness is added to them. This forms a vicious circle. As well, those lost objects usually can be found at the same spots or in the lost-and-found. In this sense, the extra stress caused by forgetfulness is a huge hassle and causes a lot of frustration. They should have a less anxiety filled attitude towards forgetfulness because if you give it some time you will realize the situation can be resolved.
After researching some scientific studies, I believe forgetfulness has an interesting mechanism called retrieval failure, which is where forgetting occurs when the correct retrieval cues are not produced to get at the contents from a person’s memory. A metaphor is an ideal tool to visualize this mechanism. Moreover, I will be communicating situations of forgetfulness that we have commonly encountered to evoke a strong echo of the target audience’s own experience.
There are many scientific writings about forgetfulness including a lot of surprising and innovative findings. For example, a study says forgetfulness is a tool of the brain to prevent us from being confused by overwhelming information. This type of research is going to be the reference of the metaphor for forgetfulness. In order to develop the project’s personality, a primary research aid such as a survey is necessary. I am going to ask the following questions: What do people usually forget? Why do you forget those things? What trouble does forgetfulness bring to you? What are some personal experiences on forgetfulness? The research found is going to be the reference and inspiration for the humorous elements of forgetfulness. Critiques and feedbacks from the target audience, of course, are the most important tools in perfecting my design. There is a limited amount of existing designs about forgetfulness. Nevertheless, this also indicates that there is a wide space for me to explore new and untouched concepts. With all this research, I am going to determine the most resonant content, the most interactive media, and the most imaginative graphic elements to carry my idea.
Overall, forgetfulness should not be conceived as an unsympathetic illness, but it can be a vivid and humorous common trait in humans. By interacting with my design, people are going to have a creative meditation, a new understanding, and a more positive attitude towards forgetfulness.
In every day life people experience many events where they forget things, whether they are minor or major. For example, they might forget to bring their keys so they can not get in the houses. Forgetfulness indeed brings us troubles. As a result, people usually have a bad feeling about it. We often associate forgetfulness with unintelligence, aging, and illness, such as Alzheimer’s disease. There are many causes of forgetfulness, and scientists are yet to discover even more. In fact, we all have moments when we forget things. None of us wants to forget things, but sometimes it is just inevitable. People should not be so hard on themselves when forgetfulness strikes.
I propose to create design to break the negative associations of forgetfulness. I am going to show that forgetfulness can be a vivid and humorous natural phenomenon in humans, by visualizing and personalizing its characteristics, instead of a potential negative medical symptom.
The objective of this project is to enhance people’s understanding of forgetfulness to change their negative feelings towards forgetfulness into being slightly more relaxed and forgiving.
Aging is a natural and unavoidable factor in affecting forgetfulness. Targeting an elderly audience whose memories have been declining due to aging will be disrespectful. Thus, this project is aimed towards a demographic that is relatively young and within the age group of sixteen to twenty-five-year olds who have an optimum memory capacity. I am confident in targeting this audience because of my similarity in age. This audience is the most active, and they will come across many situations where they will forget things. Not only once, but several times I found unplugged USB sticks in our computer rooms. People with experiences such as those who left their USB sticks are some typical examples of my target audience. Stress from studies might be the cause of their forgetfulness; after missing their important belongings, more stress and unpleasantness is added to them. This forms a vicious circle. As well, those lost objects usually can be found at the same spots or in the lost-and-found. In this sense, the extra stress caused by forgetfulness is a huge hassle and causes a lot of frustration. They should have a less anxiety filled attitude towards forgetfulness because if you give it some time you will realize the situation can be resolved.
After researching some scientific studies, I believe forgetfulness has an interesting mechanism called retrieval failure, which is where forgetting occurs when the correct retrieval cues are not produced to get at the contents from a person’s memory. A metaphor is an ideal tool to visualize this mechanism. Moreover, I will be communicating situations of forgetfulness that we have commonly encountered to evoke a strong echo of the target audience’s own experience.
There are many scientific writings about forgetfulness including a lot of surprising and innovative findings. For example, a study says forgetfulness is a tool of the brain to prevent us from being confused by overwhelming information. This type of research is going to be the reference of the metaphor for forgetfulness. In order to develop the project’s personality, a primary research aid such as a survey is necessary. I am going to ask the following questions: What do people usually forget? Why do you forget those things? What trouble does forgetfulness bring to you? What are some personal experiences on forgetfulness? The research found is going to be the reference and inspiration for the humorous elements of forgetfulness. Critiques and feedbacks from the target audience, of course, are the most important tools in perfecting my design. There is a limited amount of existing designs about forgetfulness. Nevertheless, this also indicates that there is a wide space for me to explore new and untouched concepts. With all this research, I am going to determine the most resonant content, the most interactive media, and the most imaginative graphic elements to carry my idea.
Overall, forgetfulness should not be conceived as an unsympathetic illness, but it can be a vivid and humorous common trait in humans. By interacting with my design, people are going to have a creative meditation, a new understanding, and a more positive attitude towards forgetfulness.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Forgetfulness Potion
Forgetfulness is not necessarily explained by science. Perhaps there is a "magical" force to cause it.
Pool of Forgetfulness
This is a fractal art by Vicky Brago-Mitchell. I do not really get it, but it might help. I do not know.
Context-Dependent Cues
Context-dependent cues are dependent on the environment and situation. Memory retrieval can be facilitated or triggered by replication of the context in which the memory was encoded. Such conditions include weather, company, location, smelling of a particular odour, hearing a certain song, even taste can sometimes act as a cue. For example, students sometimes fail to recall diligently studied material when an examination room's environmental conditions differ significantly from the room or place where learning occurred. To improve learning and recall, it is recommended that students should study under conditions that closely resemble an examination.
That is why we had better study at school (instead of anywhere else) before an exam. Location does matter; another wonderful excuse for getting a bad mark.
That is why we had better study at school (instead of anywhere else) before an exam. Location does matter; another wonderful excuse for getting a bad mark.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Forgetfulness Is A Tool of the Brain
A note to the forgetful: be thankful you don’t remember everything. It means your brain is working properly.
According to a new study, the brain only chooses to remember memories it thinks are most relevant, and actively suppresses those that are similar but less used, helping to lessen the cognitive load and prevent confusion.
Brice Kuhl at Stanford University in California, US, and colleagues used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure the brain activity of 20 healthy adults while they performed a simple memory test. Participants were given three words pairs to memorise, including two pairs that were closely associated, as follows:
ATTIC dust
ATTIC junk
MOVIE reel
After studying "ATTIC dust" a second time, subjects were asked to recall all three pairs using the first words as cues. On average, people were 15% worse at recalling "ATTIC junk" than they were at recalling the unrelated pair, "MOVIE reel".
Initial suppression
Comparing these findings to the fMRI data taken during the test, the team found participants’ brains were highly active in a region known for handling competing memories, and also in an area believed to induce memory suppression.
The researchers believe that the first region identified "ATTIC dust" and "ATTIC junk" as conflicting memories. The second region then suppressed "ATTIC junk" because it had only been seen once.
As the test was readministered a second and third time, suppression activity lessened, indicating the memory adjustment had been made.
Prioritising memories
"Whenever you’re engaging in remembering, the brain adapts. It’s constantly re-weighting memories," says Kuhl. "In this simple test, we see it reverse memory to weaken competing memories. This is something that probably happens a lot in the real world."
A good example is the confusion that arises when we change passwords on our computers or email accounts. We often mix up old and new passwords at first, but through repetition we develop a strong memory of the new password and forget the old one.
"The process of forgetting serves a good functional purpose," says Michael Anderson of the University of Oregon, US, who was not involved in the study. "What these guys have done is clearly establish the neurobiological basis for this process."
According to a new study, the brain only chooses to remember memories it thinks are most relevant, and actively suppresses those that are similar but less used, helping to lessen the cognitive load and prevent confusion.
Brice Kuhl at Stanford University in California, US, and colleagues used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure the brain activity of 20 healthy adults while they performed a simple memory test. Participants were given three words pairs to memorise, including two pairs that were closely associated, as follows:
ATTIC dust
ATTIC junk
MOVIE reel
After studying "ATTIC dust" a second time, subjects were asked to recall all three pairs using the first words as cues. On average, people were 15% worse at recalling "ATTIC junk" than they were at recalling the unrelated pair, "MOVIE reel".
Initial suppression
Comparing these findings to the fMRI data taken during the test, the team found participants’ brains were highly active in a region known for handling competing memories, and also in an area believed to induce memory suppression.
The researchers believe that the first region identified "ATTIC dust" and "ATTIC junk" as conflicting memories. The second region then suppressed "ATTIC junk" because it had only been seen once.
As the test was readministered a second and third time, suppression activity lessened, indicating the memory adjustment had been made.
Prioritising memories
"Whenever you’re engaging in remembering, the brain adapts. It’s constantly re-weighting memories," says Kuhl. "In this simple test, we see it reverse memory to weaken competing memories. This is something that probably happens a lot in the real world."
A good example is the confusion that arises when we change passwords on our computers or email accounts. We often mix up old and new passwords at first, but through repetition we develop a strong memory of the new password and forget the old one.
"The process of forgetting serves a good functional purpose," says Michael Anderson of the University of Oregon, US, who was not involved in the study. "What these guys have done is clearly establish the neurobiological basis for this process."
Man Without A Memory
Although it relates to my project just a little, but it is an interesting video.
How Much Forgetfulness Is Too Much
Occasional memory lapses like forgetting where the car is parked are not signs of early Alzheimer's, but doctors still aren't entirely sure how much forgetfulness indicates a greater risk of developing the full-blown disease.
The problem isn't that you can't remember where you put your keys from time to time, it's that once you find the keys, you still can't recall that you put them in that spot. The problem isn't forgetting a single appointment, but a pattern of blanking on important events or responsibilities.
Or, as Dr. Barry Gordon of the Johns Hopkins Memory Clinic puts it: "Miss an exit on the highway once, that happens. Miss it five times and that’s another story."
As part of the explosion of research into Alzheimer's disease over the last decade, scientists have become more aware of the differences between typical age-related memory lapses and a more serious condition called mild cognitive impairment.
People with mild cognitive impairment may be more forgetful than usual, but can still pay the bills and handle most daily tasks. Signs include losing track of a conversation, difficulty remembering details from a TV show they've just watched or consistently forgetting appointments.
"These people are starting to forget important information that they used to remember regularly, like doctor appointments or meeting friends," says Dr. Ron Petersen, a member of the Alzheimer's Association's medical and scientific advisory council.
Alzheimer's is thought to be the underlying cause of most mild cognitive impairment, but not everyone who experiences it develops dementia or worsening symptoms, research indicates.
Dementia is estimated to affect about 10 percent of people over 65. Of those patients, about 65 percent have Alzheimer's and 15 percent have cardiovascular problems like hardening of the arteries or stroke that can impair the mind. The rest have various uncommon conditions.
Because it can be difficult to recognize the boundaries between typical absentmindedness, mild cognitive impairment and the early stages of Alzheimer's, people who are worried about recurring forgetfulness should consult a physician. There are tests to check a person's mental abilities, and neurologists can determine if something is seriously wrong.
Being aware of your memory lapses is probably a sign that the problems isn't serious, says Gordon. The time to worry about Alzheimer's is not just when you think your memory is getting spotty, but when your friends or family start to notice your forgetfulness.
"Those that worry about it most are the least likely to have it," he says. "In general the disease robs people of their ability to appreciate that they have a memory problem."
"Losing track of a conversation," that happens to me many times. Nice!
The problem isn't that you can't remember where you put your keys from time to time, it's that once you find the keys, you still can't recall that you put them in that spot. The problem isn't forgetting a single appointment, but a pattern of blanking on important events or responsibilities.
Or, as Dr. Barry Gordon of the Johns Hopkins Memory Clinic puts it: "Miss an exit on the highway once, that happens. Miss it five times and that’s another story."
As part of the explosion of research into Alzheimer's disease over the last decade, scientists have become more aware of the differences between typical age-related memory lapses and a more serious condition called mild cognitive impairment.
People with mild cognitive impairment may be more forgetful than usual, but can still pay the bills and handle most daily tasks. Signs include losing track of a conversation, difficulty remembering details from a TV show they've just watched or consistently forgetting appointments.
"These people are starting to forget important information that they used to remember regularly, like doctor appointments or meeting friends," says Dr. Ron Petersen, a member of the Alzheimer's Association's medical and scientific advisory council.
Alzheimer's is thought to be the underlying cause of most mild cognitive impairment, but not everyone who experiences it develops dementia or worsening symptoms, research indicates.
Dementia is estimated to affect about 10 percent of people over 65. Of those patients, about 65 percent have Alzheimer's and 15 percent have cardiovascular problems like hardening of the arteries or stroke that can impair the mind. The rest have various uncommon conditions.
Because it can be difficult to recognize the boundaries between typical absentmindedness, mild cognitive impairment and the early stages of Alzheimer's, people who are worried about recurring forgetfulness should consult a physician. There are tests to check a person's mental abilities, and neurologists can determine if something is seriously wrong.
Being aware of your memory lapses is probably a sign that the problems isn't serious, says Gordon. The time to worry about Alzheimer's is not just when you think your memory is getting spotty, but when your friends or family start to notice your forgetfulness.
"Those that worry about it most are the least likely to have it," he says. "In general the disease robs people of their ability to appreciate that they have a memory problem."
"Losing track of a conversation," that happens to me many times. Nice!
Memory Pill for the Forgetful
US scientists have invented a pill that can boost memory.
The drug CX717 belongs to a family of compounds called ampakines and works by boosting the brain chemical glutamate that makes learning and recall easy.
UK trials on 16 sleep-deprived volunteers showed it improved wakefulness and mental ability.
Its creator, Dr Gary Lynch from the University of California, told New Scientist it could be used to treat jet lag and diseases like Alzheimer's.
Manufacturer Cortex is considering CX717 as a possible treatment for narcolepsy - excessive daytime sleepiness; and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) - a condition which impairs a child's ability to concentrate.
It could also be taken by healthy people as a pick-me-up. But it will have to undergo further clinical trials before going on sale.
Dr Lynch explained how the drug works. "What it's doing is causing the neurons to communicate with each other a little better.
"As you get tired, communication between brain cells begins to fail. When you take the pill, the communication is better."
He said the drug appeared to have no side effects and because it was not a physical stimulant, like amphetamines, users would still be able to sleep.
In the UK trial, led by Julia Boyle and colleagues from the University of Surrey, healthy male volunteers aged 18 to 45 agreed to test the drug.
The volunteers started with a full night's sleep and the following morning and evening were asked to complete a battery of tests assessing memory, attention, alertness, reaction time and problem solving.
At 11pm they took either the real or dummy pills and stayed up through the night, being retested at midnight, 1am, 3am, 5am and 9am.
The volunteers who took the ampakine performed much better than those who took the fake drug.
Barbara Sahakian, Professor of Clinical Neuropsychiatry at Cambridge University in the UK, said: "There has been a lot of promise with the ampakines and people are very excited about them."
She said it could be useful for medical conditions that impaired memory and concentration, but warned against recreational use as has occurred with other stimulant drugs such as the ADHD medication Ritalin.
"I think it's something we have to be concerned about because some of those people taking these drugs, their brains are still developing and we do not know the long-term consequences."
I definitely need a huge amount of those pills, especially before exams.
The drug CX717 belongs to a family of compounds called ampakines and works by boosting the brain chemical glutamate that makes learning and recall easy.
UK trials on 16 sleep-deprived volunteers showed it improved wakefulness and mental ability.
Its creator, Dr Gary Lynch from the University of California, told New Scientist it could be used to treat jet lag and diseases like Alzheimer's.
Manufacturer Cortex is considering CX717 as a possible treatment for narcolepsy - excessive daytime sleepiness; and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) - a condition which impairs a child's ability to concentrate.
It could also be taken by healthy people as a pick-me-up. But it will have to undergo further clinical trials before going on sale.
Dr Lynch explained how the drug works. "What it's doing is causing the neurons to communicate with each other a little better.
"As you get tired, communication between brain cells begins to fail. When you take the pill, the communication is better."
He said the drug appeared to have no side effects and because it was not a physical stimulant, like amphetamines, users would still be able to sleep.
In the UK trial, led by Julia Boyle and colleagues from the University of Surrey, healthy male volunteers aged 18 to 45 agreed to test the drug.
The volunteers started with a full night's sleep and the following morning and evening were asked to complete a battery of tests assessing memory, attention, alertness, reaction time and problem solving.
At 11pm they took either the real or dummy pills and stayed up through the night, being retested at midnight, 1am, 3am, 5am and 9am.
The volunteers who took the ampakine performed much better than those who took the fake drug.
Barbara Sahakian, Professor of Clinical Neuropsychiatry at Cambridge University in the UK, said: "There has been a lot of promise with the ampakines and people are very excited about them."
She said it could be useful for medical conditions that impaired memory and concentration, but warned against recreational use as has occurred with other stimulant drugs such as the ADHD medication Ritalin.
"I think it's something we have to be concerned about because some of those people taking these drugs, their brains are still developing and we do not know the long-term consequences."
I definitely need a huge amount of those pills, especially before exams.
Stress Makes You Forgetful
According to a new study, stress makes you activate an enzyme in the brain called Kinase C, it is a protein which undermines your short term memory, plus some other brain functions in the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex is the executive decision making section of your brain.
Ask any actor who is stressed with stage fright, or a student just before an important exam and they will tell you this (losing memory) is old news.
This new study, led by Dr Amy Arnsten, Yale Medical School, USA, has managed to pinpoint why your short term memory is affected when you are experiencing stress.
You can read about this study in the journal Science.
Experts say this study could help scientists and doctors acquire a better insight in how to treat people with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
Kinase C (PKC) is an enzyme which is active in patients with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Dr. Arnsten found that a psychotic episode often comes after some stressful encounter. Arnsten gave, as examples of stressful situations, leaving home to go to college or joining the armed forces.
Perhaps PKC plays a part in making patients more distracted, impulsive and have bad judgment (common during psychotic episodes).
Perhaps new drugs could target PKC production, said Arnsten.
Dr. Arnsten said 'These new findings may also help us understand the impulsivity and distractibility observed in children with lead poisoning. Very low levels of lead can activate PKC, and this may lead to impaired regulation of behavior.'
In this study Arnsten and team induced stress in rats and monkeys (by administering chemicals). The stress would be similar to what we would feel when exposed to a loud noise, or the jitters we may feel before an exam.
Arnsten said 'It doesn't have to be traumatic, as long as you feel out of control. Control is the essential factor. If you are confident, you don't have these problems." She went on to say that memory and the ability to use abstract thoughts are impaired. 'This kind of memory (using working memory that is constantly being updated), the ability to concentrate, seems to be impaired when exposed to mild stresses.'
This information is a little outdated, but it is an acceptable resource for my research since being forgetful during stress can be interestingly expressed in a visual way. Now, do you know what I am looking for?
Ask any actor who is stressed with stage fright, or a student just before an important exam and they will tell you this (losing memory) is old news.
This new study, led by Dr Amy Arnsten, Yale Medical School, USA, has managed to pinpoint why your short term memory is affected when you are experiencing stress.
You can read about this study in the journal Science.
Experts say this study could help scientists and doctors acquire a better insight in how to treat people with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
Kinase C (PKC) is an enzyme which is active in patients with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Dr. Arnsten found that a psychotic episode often comes after some stressful encounter. Arnsten gave, as examples of stressful situations, leaving home to go to college or joining the armed forces.
Perhaps PKC plays a part in making patients more distracted, impulsive and have bad judgment (common during psychotic episodes).
Perhaps new drugs could target PKC production, said Arnsten.
Dr. Arnsten said 'These new findings may also help us understand the impulsivity and distractibility observed in children with lead poisoning. Very low levels of lead can activate PKC, and this may lead to impaired regulation of behavior.'
In this study Arnsten and team induced stress in rats and monkeys (by administering chemicals). The stress would be similar to what we would feel when exposed to a loud noise, or the jitters we may feel before an exam.
Arnsten said 'It doesn't have to be traumatic, as long as you feel out of control. Control is the essential factor. If you are confident, you don't have these problems." She went on to say that memory and the ability to use abstract thoughts are impaired. 'This kind of memory (using working memory that is constantly being updated), the ability to concentrate, seems to be impaired when exposed to mild stresses.'
This information is a little outdated, but it is an acceptable resource for my research since being forgetful during stress can be interestingly expressed in a visual way. Now, do you know what I am looking for?
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Forgetfulness Because of Virus Eating Your Brain
Forget where you left your glasses? Did those keys go missing again? A virus may be to blame.
Viruses that cause a range of ills from the common cold to polio may be able to infect the brain and cause steady damage, a team at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota reports.
"Our study suggests that virus-induced memory loss could accumulate over the lifetime of an individual and eventually lead to clinical cognitive memory deficits," says Dr Charles Howe, who reports the findings in the latest issue of the journal Neurobiology of Disease.
The viruses are called picornaviruses and infect more than 1 billion people worldwide each year.
They include the virus that causes polio, as well as colds and diarrhoea. People contract an average of two or three such infections a year.
"We think picornavirus family members cross into the brain and cause a variety of brain injuries. For example, the polio virus can cause paralysis," Howe says.
"It can injure the spinal cord and different parts of the brain responsible for motor function. In the [mouse] virus we studied, it did the same thing and also injured parts of the brain responsible for memory."
The researchers infected mice with a virus called Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus, which is similar to human poliovirus.
Infected mice later had difficulty learning to navigate a maze. Some were barely affected, while others were completely unable to manage.
When the mice were killed and their brains examined, a correlating amount of damage was seen in the hippocampus region, related to learning and memory.
One virus particularly likely to cause brain damage is enterovirus 71, which is common in Asia, the researchers say.
It can cross over into the brain and cause encephalitis, a brain inflammation that can lead to coma and death.
"Our findings suggest that picornavirus infections throughout the lifetime of an individual may chip away at the cognitive reserve, increasing the likelihood of detectable cognitive impairment as the individual ages," the researchers write.
"We hypothesise that mild memory and cognitive impairments of unknown aetiology may, in fact, be due to accumulative loss of hippocampus function caused by repeated infection with common and widespread neurovirulent picornaviruses."
Other viruses kill brain cells, including the herpes virus and HIV.
Finish reading? Ok. Now I tell you, that is the kind of information I do not want to research for because it is too negative.
Viruses that cause a range of ills from the common cold to polio may be able to infect the brain and cause steady damage, a team at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota reports.
"Our study suggests that virus-induced memory loss could accumulate over the lifetime of an individual and eventually lead to clinical cognitive memory deficits," says Dr Charles Howe, who reports the findings in the latest issue of the journal Neurobiology of Disease.
The viruses are called picornaviruses and infect more than 1 billion people worldwide each year.
They include the virus that causes polio, as well as colds and diarrhoea. People contract an average of two or three such infections a year.
"We think picornavirus family members cross into the brain and cause a variety of brain injuries. For example, the polio virus can cause paralysis," Howe says.
"It can injure the spinal cord and different parts of the brain responsible for motor function. In the [mouse] virus we studied, it did the same thing and also injured parts of the brain responsible for memory."
The researchers infected mice with a virus called Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus, which is similar to human poliovirus.
Infected mice later had difficulty learning to navigate a maze. Some were barely affected, while others were completely unable to manage.
When the mice were killed and their brains examined, a correlating amount of damage was seen in the hippocampus region, related to learning and memory.
One virus particularly likely to cause brain damage is enterovirus 71, which is common in Asia, the researchers say.
It can cross over into the brain and cause encephalitis, a brain inflammation that can lead to coma and death.
"Our findings suggest that picornavirus infections throughout the lifetime of an individual may chip away at the cognitive reserve, increasing the likelihood of detectable cognitive impairment as the individual ages," the researchers write.
"We hypothesise that mild memory and cognitive impairments of unknown aetiology may, in fact, be due to accumulative loss of hippocampus function caused by repeated infection with common and widespread neurovirulent picornaviruses."
Other viruses kill brain cells, including the herpes virus and HIV.
Finish reading? Ok. Now I tell you, that is the kind of information I do not want to research for because it is too negative.
Design Proposal First Draft
Will you forget where you park your car? Will you forget to do your assignments? Will you forget your password? I believe most people are kind of forgetful. Forgetfulness is an inevitable human trait. Especially in today’s society, tire, lacking of sleep, stress, and all types of negative factors enhance our forgetfulness. However, a study says it is also a tool of the brain to prevent us from being confused, by ignoring the most irrelevant and unimportant information. Really? It is interesting that we “forget” because we also “remember”. If we do not remember what we forget, we will never realize we forget something. What do people usually forget? How do they forget those things? What troubles does forgetfulness bring to them? As a very forgetful person, I am so curious about others’ experience. Yet, forgetfulness is a mental activity that is invisible. I am going to design an interesting visual expression to communicate forgetfulness.
At the beginning, I was going to design a device to prevent people from forgetting, or to increase short-term memory. However, there have been a lot of existing products on the same topic. People always try to find ways to cope with forgetfulness that is considered as absolutely bad. Nevertheless, I see it in a natural point of view; forgetfulness is just like a natural phenomenon in human. Instead of making it an enemy or a problem, I am going to show its interesting and humorous aspects.
Since aging is an unavoidable natural factor to cause forgetfulness, the target audience of this project must be age-dependent. I want a group that is relatively young and I am fairly familiar with, so I am going to target at the age group of sixteen to thirty who are the most active and have many things for them to forget.
There are a lot of scientific writings about forgetfulness including many surprising and innovative findings. In order to make the project have more personality, primary research such as survey is necessary. There are also some artworks and designs that I can study as reference. Critiques and feedbacks from the target audience, of course, are the most important tools to perfect the design. Through these researches, I am going to determine the most resonant content, the most interactive media, and the most imaginative graphic elements to carry my idea.
By interacting with the design, people are going to have a creative meditation, a new understanding, and a different attitude about forgetfulness.
At the beginning, I was going to design a device to prevent people from forgetting, or to increase short-term memory. However, there have been a lot of existing products on the same topic. People always try to find ways to cope with forgetfulness that is considered as absolutely bad. Nevertheless, I see it in a natural point of view; forgetfulness is just like a natural phenomenon in human. Instead of making it an enemy or a problem, I am going to show its interesting and humorous aspects.
Since aging is an unavoidable natural factor to cause forgetfulness, the target audience of this project must be age-dependent. I want a group that is relatively young and I am fairly familiar with, so I am going to target at the age group of sixteen to thirty who are the most active and have many things for them to forget.
There are a lot of scientific writings about forgetfulness including many surprising and innovative findings. In order to make the project have more personality, primary research such as survey is necessary. There are also some artworks and designs that I can study as reference. Critiques and feedbacks from the target audience, of course, are the most important tools to perfect the design. Through these researches, I am going to determine the most resonant content, the most interactive media, and the most imaginative graphic elements to carry my idea.
By interacting with the design, people are going to have a creative meditation, a new understanding, and a different attitude about forgetfulness.
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