Scientists have differing perspectives on whether H.M.’s sense of self disappeared with his ability to form new memories. Are we still ourselves without our memories?
Special Guest: Tomaso Poggio, Eugene McDermott Professor in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and at the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.

Special Guest: Suzanne Corkin, Ph.D., Professor in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT and Head of the Behavioral Neuroscience Lab. Her research focuses on the biological bases of human memory networks, cognitive and neural characteristics of healthy aging, and natural history and pathophysiology of degenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. She studied H.M. from 1962 until his death in 2008 and is coming out with a new book this fall: Permanent Present Tense: The Unforgettable Life of the Amnesic Patient, H.M.

Special Guest: Angela Gutchess, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Brandeis University. Her expertise is in how age and culture affect memory and social cognition.

H.M. was unable to recall what he said or did moments before. But what about the rest of us — are our memories really as accurate as we think they are?
Special Guest: Daniel Schacter, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Psychology at Harvard University and director of the Schacter Memory Lab at Harvard. Dr. Schacter’s books on memory and cognition include: The Seven Sins of Memory: How the Mind Forgets and Remembers, and Searching for Memory: The Brain, The Mind, and The Past.

Special Guests: Dorothy and Aaron Jungels, Founders and co-Artistic Directors of Everett, a cross-disciplinary, cross-generational, and cross-cultural ensemble of dance and theater artists in Providence, RI. Everett’s current work, “Brain Storm,” combines neuroscience and narrative to illuminate the beauty and mystery of the brain.