Researchers find memory capacity much bigger than previously thought

User rating: 4.7 / 5 after 25 vote(s)

Subjects in memory tests given at MITs Computational Vision Cognition Laboratory were asked to recall which of a pair of objects they had seen earlier that day. Subjects were shown 3000 images one at a time over a five-hour period. Image courtesy  Co ...
Subjects in memory tests given at MIT's Computational Vision Cognition Laboratory were asked to recall which of a pair of objects they had seen earlier that day. Subjects were shown 3,000 images, one at a time, over a five-hour period. Image courtesy / Computational Vision Cognition Laboratory, MIT

In recent years, demonstrations of memory's failures have convinced many scientists that human memory does not store the details of our experiences. However, a new study from MIT cognitive neuroscientists may overturn this widespread belief: They have shown that given the right setting, the human brain can record an amazing amount of information.


Full story »

All News summaries from Medicine & Health news
All News summaries for September 09, 2008

Crafting your image for your 1,000 friends on Facebook or MySpace

Nov 18, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
Students are creating idealized versions of themselves on social networking websites — Facebook and MySpace are the most popular — and using these sites to explore their emerging identities, UCLA psychologists report. Parents ...

Dutch state steps up fight against illegal smoking in bars

Nov 18, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
The Dutch health ministry announced plans Tuesday to impose tougher fines and heavier punishments on restaurants and pubs that continue infringing a new smoking ban.

Methamphetamine abuse linked to underage sex, smoking and drinking

Nov 18, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
Teens who have never done drugs, but engage in other risky behaviours such as drinking, smoking and being sexually active, are more likely to use crystal meth, medical researchers at the University of Alberta have concluded. ...

Team identifies 13 new tumor-suppressor genes in liver cancer

Nov 18, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
Over the years, hunting for cancer-related genes and understanding how they work has been an important, although time-consuming, exercise. At Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), five different research groups have now combined ...

Study documents what may be first cases of certain tick-borne disease in China

Nov 18, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
It appears that for the first time human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA), an emerging tick-borne infectious disease found in the U.S. and Europe, has been identified in China and apparently was transmitted from person to ...