A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR

‘Popular science at its best: entertaining and thought-provoking.’ FINANCIAL TIMES

‘You don’t have to be a victim to your past and the way you used to think . . . A wonderful book.’ DR RANGAN CHATTERJEE

‘A radically new and engaging explanation of how and why we remember.’ MATTHEW WALKER

‘Life-changing.’ SIDDHARTHA MUKHERJEE

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Memory is far more than an archive of the past. This groundbreaking book by a pioneering Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology, Dr Charan Ranganath, reveals the powerful role memory plays in nearly every aspect of our lives.

Combining fascinating tales of the peculiarities of memory as well as cutting-edge science, Dr Ranganath shows the surprising ways our brains record the past and how we use that information to understand who we are in the present, and to imagine and guide our futures. Memory shapes how we experience the world, and it does that in often invisible, active and sometimes destructive ways. Dr Ranganath argues that we can use this knowledge to make better use of our flawed memories, whether in daily tasks like finding our keys or dealing with memory loss as we age. What’s more, when we work with the brain’s ability to learn and reinterpret past events, we can shed our biases, learn faster and heal after grief or trauma. This is a vital, accessible guide to understanding memory’s quirks – and its power.

‘Radically new and engaging.’ MATTHEW WALKER

‘Not only will every reader remember better afterward, they’ll also never forget this life-changing book.’ SIDDHARTHA MUKHERJEE

‘Ranganath turns much of what we think we know about memory on its head.’ DANIEL J. LEVITIN

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We talk about memory as a record of the past, but here’s a surprising twist: we aren’t supposed to remember everything. In fact, we’re designed to forget.

We talk about memory as a record of the past, but here’s a surprising twist: we aren’t supposed to remember everything. In fact, we’re designed to forget. Over the course of twenty-five years, Charan Ranganath has studied the seemingly selective and unreliable nature of human memory to find that our brains haven’t evolved to keep a comprehensive record of events, but to extract the information needed to guide our futures.

Using fascinating case studies and testimonies, Why We Remember unveils the principles behind what and why we forget and shines new light on the silent, pervasive influence of memory on how we learn, heal and make decisions. By examining the role that attention, intention, imagination and emotion play in the storing of memories, it provides a vital user’s guide to remembering what we hold most dear.