At some point in our lives, we all struggle with memory — learning a new name, remembering that book you were reading just yesterday or that word on the tip of your tongue.

So what can neuroscience teach us about why we remember, why we forget, and how we might even improve our memories?

To answer this question, I spoke with neuroscientist Anthony Wagner, a memory expert in Stanford's Department of Psychology.

Learn More
Wagner lab website

Recent lab publications
Anthony's new book: Brain Sciences for Lawyers, Judges, and Policymakers (2024). Jones, O. D., Schall, J. D., Shen, F. X., Hoffman, M. B., & Wagner, A. D. Oxford University Press. Order

Stress thwarts our ability to plan ahead by disrupting how we use memory, Stanford study finds (Stanford News 2020)

Stanford researchers link poor memory to attention lapses and media multitasking (Stanford News, 2020)

Episode credits
This episode was produced by Michael Osborne at 14th Street Studios, with production assistance by Morgan Honaker. Our logo is by Aimee Garza. The show is hosted by Nicholas Weiler at Stanford's Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute.

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How we remember, why we forget | Anthony Wagner

From Our Neurons to Yours

How we remember, why we forget | Anthony Wagner