Charan Ranganath

Being in a new place, being surprised, but also being scared. Traumas are enormously memorable, regardless of whether we want them to be. Things that are like being in a state of desire, those moments are very memorable to us.

Being in a new place, being surprised, but also being scared. Traumas are enormously memorable, regardless of whether we want them to be. Things that are like being in a state of desire, those moments are very memorable to us.

And so you can look at those states, and what you'll find is that there's these chemicals in the brain that are released pretty intensively during these states, chemicals like dopamine, noradrenaline, serotonin, cortisol. And many of your listeners, I'm sure, have heard some of these things. Dopamine, everybody talks about nowadays, right?

And so you can look at those states, and what you'll find is that there's these chemicals in the brain that are released pretty intensively during these states, chemicals like dopamine, noradrenaline, serotonin, cortisol. And many of your listeners, I'm sure, have heard some of these things. Dopamine, everybody talks about nowadays, right?

And so you can look at those states, and what you'll find is that there's these chemicals in the brain that are released pretty intensively during these states, chemicals like dopamine, noradrenaline, serotonin, cortisol. And many of your listeners, I'm sure, have heard some of these things. Dopamine, everybody talks about nowadays, right?

And what dopamine does, Princess, is it gets you revved up. It doesn't actually give you a sense of pleasure, but it does get you revved up. and it promotes plasticity. It allows these memories to rapidly consolidate so to speak so that they're much more resilient. So importance is not necessarily what I think, oh, yeah, I have to make sure that I remember this doctor appointment next week.

And what dopamine does, Princess, is it gets you revved up. It doesn't actually give you a sense of pleasure, but it does get you revved up. and it promotes plasticity. It allows these memories to rapidly consolidate so to speak so that they're much more resilient. So importance is not necessarily what I think, oh, yeah, I have to make sure that I remember this doctor appointment next week.

And what dopamine does, Princess, is it gets you revved up. It doesn't actually give you a sense of pleasure, but it does get you revved up. and it promotes plasticity. It allows these memories to rapidly consolidate so to speak so that they're much more resilient. So importance is not necessarily what I think, oh, yeah, I have to make sure that I remember this doctor appointment next week.

But rather, it's something more along the lines of, oh, my God, I was in this cave and I got attacked by a bear. I want to remember that experience and I want to remember how I got there, how to avoid that in the future. Right. That's the kind of thing I'm talking about. So importance is a big one, and that's why we often remember these emotional experiences.

But rather, it's something more along the lines of, oh, my God, I was in this cave and I got attacked by a bear. I want to remember that experience and I want to remember how I got there, how to avoid that in the future. Right. That's the kind of thing I'm talking about. So importance is a big one, and that's why we often remember these emotional experiences.

But rather, it's something more along the lines of, oh, my God, I was in this cave and I got attacked by a bear. I want to remember that experience and I want to remember how I got there, how to avoid that in the future. Right. That's the kind of thing I'm talking about. So importance is a big one, and that's why we often remember these emotional experiences.

The last one, and I know I've gone on for a long time, but you wanted, you asked for it. I did indeed. So another one is context. That's both C and medic. So context is the place, the time that these events took place. So when we remember events or episodic memories, These are memories that are glued to a place in time. There's a brain area called the hippocampus.

The last one, and I know I've gone on for a long time, but you wanted, you asked for it. I did indeed. So another one is context. That's both C and medic. So context is the place, the time that these events took place. So when we remember events or episodic memories, These are memories that are glued to a place in time. There's a brain area called the hippocampus.

The last one, and I know I've gone on for a long time, but you wanted, you asked for it. I did indeed. So another one is context. That's both C and medic. So context is the place, the time that these events took place. So when we remember events or episodic memories, These are memories that are glued to a place in time. There's a brain area called the hippocampus.

And what we know is the hippocampus, if it has any kind of a filing scheme, it files things according to time and place. So that's kind of why, for instance, if you hear a song, and this is a song that you haven't listened to since you're a teenager, well, now what happens is it brings you back to that time because it's a cue that pulls up memories from that time period.

And what we know is the hippocampus, if it has any kind of a filing scheme, it files things according to time and place. So that's kind of why, for instance, if you hear a song, and this is a song that you haven't listened to since you're a teenager, well, now what happens is it brings you back to that time because it's a cue that pulls up memories from that time period.

And what we know is the hippocampus, if it has any kind of a filing scheme, it files things according to time and place. So that's kind of why, for instance, if you hear a song, and this is a song that you haven't listened to since you're a teenager, well, now what happens is it brings you back to that time because it's a cue that pulls up memories from that time period.

And so that time period now has all sorts of memories associated with it and might bring you back to, you know, sneaking beers with your friends in high school or might bring you back to days where you went out to the beach or whatever it was. Right. And that experience is something we would call mental time travel, where a memory can bring you back to a past context, a time and a place.

And so that time period now has all sorts of memories associated with it and might bring you back to, you know, sneaking beers with your friends in high school or might bring you back to days where you went out to the beach or whatever it was. Right. And that experience is something we would call mental time travel, where a memory can bring you back to a past context, a time and a place.

And so that time period now has all sorts of memories associated with it and might bring you back to, you know, sneaking beers with your friends in high school or might bring you back to days where you went out to the beach or whatever it was. Right. And that experience is something we would call mental time travel, where a memory can bring you back to a past context, a time and a place.