101 Theory Drive is the name of a book about memory. The title is derived from the address of the science lab where a number of researchers work on memory. Gary Lynch is the driving force behind the research. One of Lynch's discoveries is really shocking (certainly counter-intuitive to what has been heralded about memory in the past) in one sense, but really good at explaining some memory phenomena in another. Our brains have so much stimuli going on that it would be impossible to remember much of it. That led Lynch to hypothesize that "forgetting" is the default setting in the brain. Something has to happen out of the routine to create a memory. That's astounding that the default setting of the brain is to not remember.
That explains a lot, though, about disesases of longevity and memory. Part of the deterioration process in aging is the loss of the mechanism to create memory. So, the default takes over - forgetting. Now researchers can focus on reversing the condition, that is, finding drugs that can recreate the chemical reaction to cause memory to happen. It also explains why children remember events or instruction in school so differently. The default is to not remember unless something in the instruction causes a memory.
Just from a memory standpoint, the first 3 1/2 years of the last 5 years for me didn't have much in them to create memories. Time passed without many mile markers to offset the default setting of the brain. But, the last year and a half has been different. Mile markers line the brain (figuratively speaking) creating a host of memories. The default setting of the brain has been overridden a great number of times for the brain to record very happy memories. Life's routines were not so mundane any longer. Solid memories resulted. And another finding of Lynch's research is beautiful. Long term memories are permanent. The last year and a half will last till I die.
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