Man with No Memory | The Observer | 4

American Innovations

Wondery

Steven Johnson, History, Kids & Family, Education For Kids, Science

4.6 • 4.1K Ratings

🗓️ 2 December 2021

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In losing his ability to form memories, Henry Molaison also lost the ability to learn new skills, retain information and form relationships. He became a kind of time traveler, living forever in the present moment. In this episode, Steven talks with John Gabrieli, a cognitive neuroscientist who worked directly with Molaison aka “Patient H.M.” in the 1980s. Gabrieli shares more about the new discoveries of how memory works that were built on studying this very special patient.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, Prime Members, you can listen to American Innovations,
0:03.6	Add Free on Amazon Music, download the app today.
0:07.0	Join Wondery Plus in Apple Podcasts or the Wondery app
0:11.5	to listen to American Innovations early and add free.
0:14.5	From Wondery, I'm Stephen Johnson, and this is American Innovations.
0:26.0	Music
0:45.0	In our latest series, we explored the curious case of Henry Malaison,
0:49.0	known as Patient HM, a man who underwent an experimental brain surgery
0:53.0	to treat his seizures that left him unable to form any new memories.
0:57.5	After the surgery, Henry became one of the most important neurological research subjects ever.
1:03.5	Scientists made breakthrough discoveries about how we form memories through working with him.
1:09.0	Not today, I'm talking with Dr. John Gabrielli,
1:12.0	professor in the Department of Brain Cognitive Sciences at MIT.
1:15.5	He's also an investigator with MIT's McGoveron Institute for Brain Research.
1:20.5	He spent the first half of his career studying memory and had the chance to work with Henry Malaison,
1:26.0	alongside researcher Suzanne Corquan.
1:29.5	John Gabrielli, thank you so much for joining us on American Innovations.
1:33.5	It's my pleasure, Stephen.
1:35.0	So it's always such a thrill for us to have a guest, one with your extraordinary career,
1:41.5	but also a guest who actually knew some of the people in our story episodes.
1:48.0	Most importantly, Henry Malaison, but also Suzanne Corquan.
1:52.5	But I want to get into that because it's always so interesting to talk to someone who was actually in the room with these people.
	...

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