UA News

Alfred W. Kaszniak, professor and department head of psychology at the University of Arizona, will discuss "Metamemory: How Does the Brain Predict Itself?"

Our brains recreate past experience, monitor recall efforts and predict our chances of remembering things in the future. The knowledge we each possess about our own memory, and strategies to aid in memory, form what is called metamemory. Studies of persons with impaired metamemory due to neurological illness, along with brain imaging studies of healthy adults making judgments about memory, indicate that the brain systems active in retrieving information are distinct from those that self-monitor memory. Metamemory research is helping build an understanding of a wide range of experiences from tip-of-the-tongue forgetfulness to the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.

The human brain, and the mind it creates, is enormously complex. Everything we do, feel and think emerges from billions of nerve cells and their interconnections. Brain development is shaped by evolution and genetics, but is also greatly affected by experience. The mind takes shape through exposure to individuals and cultures, and becomes a constructive and predictive device. It creates inner worlds – past, present and future – that allow us to behave in highly adaptive ways, if we so choose. It also allows us to engage in risky behavior and make bad decisions.

Six speakers in this UA College of Science series will explore how brains are built, how minds are made, and how modern cognitive and neural science is changing the way we think about memory, money, morality, mortality and more.

Parking is available on a pay per use basis in the Tyndall Avenue Garage. Call 520-621-4090 or go to the College of Science Web site for more information.