Explaining the science behind memory and memory loss—including why forgetting is a crucial property of memory, as well as strategies that help people remember better—is the subject of a new book co-authored by neuroscientist Elizabeth A. Kensinger, a professor in the Boston College Psychology and Neuroscience Department. In Why We Forget and How to Remember Better: The Science Behind Memory (Oxford University Press, 2023), Kensinger and Boston University Professor of Neurology Andrew E. Budson, M.D., explain how memory influences our behavior without our awareness, underscoring the fact that what and how we remember influences everything from our social relationships to the decisions we make on a daily basis. As they incorporated their own findings, as well as the body of research on the subject, the co-authors were surprised to discover that memory is not really about the past. Read more from BC News.