Forgetting keys does not mean you’re losing it

FORGETTING where you put your keys or wallet does not mean you are losing your memory, scientists have claimed in a new book.

Instead, they say the brain forgets on purpose so that it can store other information.

Two academics, Dr Megan Sumeracki and Dr Althea Need Kaminske, have written a book, The Psychology of Memory, to explain why people lose household items and how we better remember names and numbers.

They say storing and retrieving information is far more complex than people think and forgetting is normal and extremes of memory, such as photographic or savant, are very rare.

Dr Kaminske of Indiana University’s school of medicine, said: “Because we are most aware of our memory when we have trouble remembering something, our intuitions about how memory works might be a little biased.

“You may be unsurprised to learn that our memory systems are not necessarily designed to remember where we put our phones or keys or water bottles ... though we would hazard a guess that if we were in a survival scenario where dehydration was a concern, we would be much more aware of water.”

Dr Sumeracki, of Rhode Island College, added: “A degree of forgetting is natural to allow the brain to remember more general information. Memory does not work like a recording device, they say, but ‘more like a Wiki page’ because details can be edited.”

The academics say there are many techniques to improve day-to-day memory. One is “retrieval practice”, the strategy of “pulling’ facts from memory such as learning a new colleague’s name by deliberately addressing them in every interaction with them.

weather presents one of the biggest threats to UK food security.

Warmer wetter winters similar to this past year are expected to increase in frequency as the global climate warms.

Mr Lancaster added: “To withstand the wetter winters that will come from climate change, farmers need more support. The Government’s green farming schemes are vital to this, helping farmers to invest in their soils to allow them to recover faster from both floods and droughts.”

Noting that half of British food now comes from abroad, Mr Lancaster said the Government will have to ensure farmers both in the UK and abroad are supported.

“Moving faster to net zero emissions is the only guaranteed way to limit these impacts and maintain our food security,” he added.