CafeLitt 147: Memory

Thu 19 Nov 2009, 19:00, by Dr. Shahin Zanganehpour, at Bistro Burritoville:3rd floor, 2055 Rue Bishop, Montreal,QC (Map)

Everything is life is memory, save the thin edge of the present. (Michael Gazzaniga, 2000)
Modern science defines memory as the processes involved in retaining, retrieving, and using information about stimuli, events, ideas, and skills after the original information is no longer present. It is not therefore not farfetched to think of the memory system as a mental "time machine"! According to modern psychological theory, memory is a cognitive capacity that is used to guide an organisms behaviour towards various elements in its biological and mental life. Therefore, the impact of memory is felt in every domain of experience. At this week's CaféLitt gathering, I will provide an overview of the current understanding of memory and its relationship with the brain. I will then use the two most thoroughly documented clinical cases of memory deficits to illustrate how the careful study of brain damage has tremendously enhanced our understanding and appreciation of the many facets of memory function. I will end the talk with a brief treatment of some of the very exciting new developments in revealing the cellular and molecular basis of memory function.


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About us

CaféLitt is not a place; it is a gathering of minds. We are a group of mostly Persian young students, scholars and professionals who gather every Thursday evening around 19h00 to discuss various subjects and share different ideas, ranging vastly from history to science, from literature to fine arts. We started these gatherings on Jan 17th, 2006 with 5 people and have reached an average weekly audience of about 40 people. Each week, one of us takes the responsibility of presenting a topic for about an hour in a subject s/he is intimately familiar with or has an expertise in. Afterwards, the evening turns into a discussion forum and all members of the audience will have an opportunity to ask their question(s) and share their points of view.

Some new and exciting ideas were born out of CaféLitt sessions. We have started a series of monthly meetings called CaféCinema during which a movie is presented and discussed in some detail afterward. This year's program of CaféCinema revolves around the history of Iranian cinema. Some Cinema students hold these sessions (mainly conducted in English) on the last Sunday of each month.

Likewise, CaféLitt BookClub is an activity where people who like books decide to read a book each month and discuss it during a cozy Café session on the second Sunday of every month.

CaféTheatre is a series of semi-rehearsed sessions in which we select a play, divide the roles among different people and read the play from the text in front of an audience. Similar to other CaféLitt sessions, each CaféTheatre session will end with a discussion of that day's play.  

CaféScience and CaféPhilo are our plans for near future. The purpose of CaféScience is to provide a forum for the public discussion and understanding of all scientific findings and ideas, with an emphasis on new, interesting and publicly relevant topics. During CaféPhilo sessions, we will talk about philosophy, its history and all its related aspects.

CaféLitt is pen to all comments, suggestion and new ideas. CaféLitt provides an unparalleled opportunity for learning about culture, science and philosophy in a relaxed and friendly environment, and for sharing your knowledge and expertise with like-minded members of your community.

CafeLitt is a nonpartisan, nonreligious and nonpolitical entity.
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