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Lesley Stahl, a Sixty Minutes reporter, interviewed five individuals, including famed actress, Marilu Henner who starred in the popular television series, Taxi. Henner is among the only known people to possess the rare ability of superior autobiographical memory; the ability to remember what happened every day of one’s life in detail.
This amazing gift might seem like a curse in some cases, as when a loved one dies, or when a significant other breaks up with you. However, according to the Lesley Stahl’s report, these super-memory individuals can compartmentalize their memories, like a file cabinet, and call on them as needed, but disregard them in situations where they are a hindrance.
While Marilu Henner, Louise Owen, and their fellow super-memories might be wonderful for trivia and parties, the study of such optimal brain performance holds great interest for science as well. Scientists proceed to perform MRI scans on these subjects and discovered that they had two areas of their brains enlarged by seven to eight standard deviations: the temporal lobe and the caudate nucleus.
The temporal lobe is the section of brain neurobiologists believe store new memories. The caudate nucleus is associated with memory, learning, and obsessive-compulsive disorder, a trait common in all five subjects to some degree.
By studying these individuals, scientists hope to help cure memory diseases like Alzheimer’s and help people in general who have memory problems. Dr. McGaugh, raised another important point, are these regions bigger because they have extraordinary memories, and by using them, Marilu Henner and Louise Owen exercised their brains, or do they have amazing recall because their brains were like this from the beginning?
If the answer is exercising the brain improves memory, then fields like neurofeedback, designed specifically as brain exercise technologies, will continue to make a difference in the lives of those neurofeedback therapists treat. Not only can neurofeedback reduce anxiety, insomnia, and post-traumatic stress, all contributing factors to memory loss, but it might also help improve memory through the mental exercise it provides.
The brain continues to provide science with amazing new discoveries, as science delves deeper into brain chemistry, abilities, and how we as individuals can change the way our brains function. From neurobiology to biofeedback eeg, scientific research on brain function and clinical research on how we can change that function to improve our daily lives is critical not only to trivia contests, but ultimately to our health and happiness.
Mindy Fox (mftherapy.com) is a licensed marriage and family therapist with over eighteen years of experience. With a Master of Arts in Psychotherapy, Fox is also certified in somatic experiencing and trained in neurofeedback EEG (also referred to as eeg biofeedback therapy). Her expertise in psychotherapy, EMDR, and neurofeedback helps her treat clients with attention deficit disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, addiction, and depression issues. Fox employs body-mind therapy techniques such as EMDR, somatic experiencing, guided imagery, and neurofeedback, along with traditional methods to treat clients of all ages. Fox chairs the State CAMFT Trauma Response Committee and served as President of South Bay/Long Beach CAMFT Chapter.
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