{"id":15176,"date":"2020-09-21T23:59:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-22T03:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=15176"},"modified":"2020-10-01T12:39:08","modified_gmt":"2020-10-01T16:39:08","slug":"memory-formation-brain-on-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/memory-formation-brain-on-fire\/","title":{"rendered":"Memory Formation Impaired by a Brain on Fire"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>How do we form memories? Is the process of memory formation impaired by autoimmune encephalitis?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Memory formation is the process by which the brain stores knowledge and experiences. It is an essential process for regular functioning. But diseases like autoimmune encephalitis can get in the way of this process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read more about how Susannah&#8217;s memory formation in the brain was impaired when her brain was on &#8220;fire&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Do We Form Memories?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Our brains form memories when two different <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-are-the-regions-of-the-brain\/\">areas of the brain<\/a> identify an experience as important enough to be remembered. The hippocampus gives the experience context for memory formation in the brain. The amygdala associates the experience with an emotion. The higher the emotion, the more likely the experience will be preserved as a memory. When these areas are compromised by disease, a memory may not form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Memory formation is not perfect and memories are often inaccurate. Each time our brain recalls a memory, it rewrites it, adding new, possibly fictitious, information. For instance, Susannah\u2019s memory of an orange band on her wrist saying Flight Risk wasn\u2019t real; in fact, she had a yellow band that said Fall Risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the other hand, authentic memories can be triggered by our senses, like the sudden recognition of a recognizable smell, color, or image.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Susannah&#8217;s Process of Memory Formation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Susannah\u2019s old self finally reawakens. She begins reading again and starts keeping a diary. Her father encourages her to draw upon her memory, but she can recall only numbness, sleepiness, and three seizures. <strong>She remembers nothing from her time in the hospital.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Two years after her release from the hospital, Susannah returns to NYU for a visit. Much to her disappointment, nothing looks familiar. Until she\u2019s hit by a smell. And she sees the purple lady. They hug, and images flood Susannah\u2019s mind: Stephen arriving with his nature DVDs. Her father feeding her. Her mother staring out the window.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Memories rush back to Susannah, knocking her off balance. With each memory recovered, she wonders what others remain, knowing there are thousands she\u2019ll never retrieve. <strong>The other Susannah, the mad Susannah, calls out to her, saying, \u201cDon\u2019t forget me. Please.\u201d<\/strong> The new Susannah knows that no matter how many memories she regains, or how much research she does, many bits of her life have simply vanished. Still, she\u2019s comforted by the fact that even though she was not conscious during her lost month, some part of her was present after all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How do we form memories? Is the process of memory formation impaired by autoimmune encephalitis? Memory formation is the process by which the brain stores knowledge and experiences. It is an essential process for regular functioning. But diseases like autoimmune encephalitis can get in the way of this process. Read more about how Susannah&#8217;s memory formation in the brain was impaired when her brain was on &#8220;fire&#8221;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":15298,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,16,7],"tags":[130],"class_list":["post-15176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-communication","category-health","category-lifestyle","tag-brain-on-fire","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Memory Formation Impaired by a Brain on Fire - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Memory formation is an essential cognitive function. But how can your brain store memories when it is under attack? Here&#039;s what happens.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/memory-formation-brain-on-fire\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Memory Formation Impaired by a Brain on Fire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Memory formation is an essential cognitive function. But how can your brain store memories when it is under attack? Here&#039;s what happens.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/memory-formation-brain-on-fire\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-09-22T03:59:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-10-01T16:39:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/brain-on-fire-memory-formation-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rina Shah\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rina Shah\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/memory-formation-brain-on-fire\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/memory-formation-brain-on-fire\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Rina Shah\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d07435826f13a8f422d5d333dceac287\"},\"headline\":\"Memory Formation Impaired by a Brain on Fire\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-22T03:59:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-10-01T16:39:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/memory-formation-brain-on-fire\/\"},\"wordCount\":428,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/memory-formation-brain-on-fire\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/brain-on-fire-memory-formation-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Brain on Fire\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Communication\",\"Health\",\"Lifestyle\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/memory-formation-brain-on-fire\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/memory-formation-brain-on-fire\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/memory-formation-brain-on-fire\/\",\"name\":\"Memory Formation Impaired by a Brain on Fire - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/memory-formation-brain-on-fire\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/memory-formation-brain-on-fire\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/brain-on-fire-memory-formation-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-22T03:59:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-10-01T16:39:08+00:00\",\"description\":\"Memory formation is an essential cognitive function. 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