What Neuroscience Tells Us About Ourselves

What does neuroscience tell us about ourselves? Are we just our DNA? How do we remember some things but forget other things? The wiring of the human brain is so complicated that it cannot be specified exactly in our DNA. Subtle, random changes in the cells within the developing nervous system cascade through time to produce big differences in neural wiring and functioning. Our guides for this study group will be two neuroscientists, David J. Linton and Lisa Genova. Unique: The New Science of Human Individuality (Basic Books, 2020) by David J Linden, explores how the factors that make us all human can change and interact to make each of us a singular person. In Remember, The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting (Harmony Books, 2021) by Lisa Genova, we will explore the intricacies of how we remember, why we forget, and what we can do to protect our memories. We will discuss how memories are made and how we retrieve them. Join us as we explore the factors that shape us and how social experience and genes interact to shape each of us as individual human beings.