Memory Thief

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A01=Lauren Aguirre
addiction
Age Group_Uncategorized
Age Group_Uncategorized
Alzheimer's disease
amnesia
Author_Lauren Aguirre
automatic-update
Boston
brain
Cambridge
Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=GTK
Category=GTR
COP=United States
Delivery_Pre-order
dementia
doctor
drug
emergency room
eq_isMigrated=2
Harvard
health
Language_English
medicine
memory
memory loss
MIT
mystery
neuroscience
nurse
Oliver Sacks
opiate
opiod
PA=Temporarily unavailable
Price_€20 to €50
PS=Active
psychology
softlaunch

Product details

  • ISBN 9781643136523
  • Weight: 481g
  • Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
  • Publication Date: 01 Jun 2021
  • Publisher: Pegasus Books
  • Publication City/Country: US
  • Product Form: Hardback
  • Language: English
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FINALIST FOR THE 2022 PEN/E.O. WILSON LITERARY SCIENCE WRITING AWARD

"Aguirre writes clearly, concisely, and often cinematically. The book succeeds in providing an accessible yet substantive look at memory science and offering glimpses of the often-challenging process of biomedical investigation.”—Science

Sometimes, it’s not the discovery that’s hard – it’s convincing others that you’re right. The Memory Thief chronicles an investigation into a rare and devastating amnesia first identified in a cluster of fentanyl overdose survivors. When a handful of doctors embark on a quest to find out exactly what happened to these marginalized victims, they encounter indifference and skepticism from the medical establishment.

But after many blind alleys and occasional strokes of good luck, they go on to prove that opioids can damage the hippocampus, a tiny brain region responsible for forming new memories. This discovery may have implications for millions of people around the world.

Through the prism of this fascinating story, Aguirre recounts the obstacles researchers so often confront when new ideas bump up against conventional wisdom. She explains the elegant tricks scientists use to tease out the fundamental mechanisms of memory. And finally, she reveals why researchers now believe that a treatment for Alzheimer’s is within reach.
Lauren Aguirre is an award-winning science journalist who has produced documentaries, podcasts, short-form video series, interactive games, and blogs for the PBS series NOVA, where she worked after graduating from MIT. Aguirre’s reporting on memory has appeared in The Atlantic, Undark Magazine, and the Boston Globe’s STAT. 

The research and writing of this book was supported in part by a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Program in Public Understanding of Science and Technology.