Memory

First broadcast May 2005

From birth through to death our brains will file away huge amounts of information - facts, names, faces, sounds, smells and events and the emotions that are inevitably tied to them.

But what is memory? How does it work? In this four part series, Pam Rutherford will explore the science of memory, its extraordinary capabilities, how and why it can go wrong.

Part 1: What is memory?

How do you know who you are?

Will you still be the same person tomorrow or in 20 years time? It's hard to imagine a life without memory.

What is memory and how does it start before we're even born?

Pam Rutherford explores how memories might be formed.

How initial sparks of activity in the brain turn into the footprints of memory and why, despite the constant chemical turn over of our brains our memories persist during the course of our lives.

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