Unforgettable: The True Story of the Memory Thief That Almost Got Away—And the Secrets it Revealed About Our Brains

Description

The incredible true story of a team of Boston doctors who—through years of innovative scientific sluething and observant care—uncovered a sweeping national epidemic of memory loss. From the moment Massachusetts-based neurologist Jed Barash sees the unusual MRI scan of a young patient who has succumbed to sudden anterograde amnesia—a scan revealing a bizarre image in which the seahorse-shaped hippocampus is scorched and glowing against the dark backdrop of the brain—the rookie doctor is certain he’s discovered something alarming. First detected in a relatively small group of opiate addicts, a mysterious spate of memory loss holds harrowing implications for millions of everyday people who may be putting their memories at risk simply by taking such commonly prescribed painkillers as OxyContin and Vicodin.  Unforgettable takes us beyond the opioid crisis to the inner workings of our brain, and how opiods are actually rewiring minds and sabotaging long-term memories. Aguirre brilliantly captures the tension and drama that lead to the linking of opoid use and dementia, in turn inspiring a new strategy for treating memory loss, epsecially Alzheimer's. At once a deeply reported medical mystery and an investigation into the nature of human memory, Unforgettable illuminates the science of memory—something so amorphous and yet so vital to who we are as cognizant beings. Filled with empathy and perseverance in the face of monumental institutional skepticism and sheer denial, Unforgettable is at once gripping, enlightening, and will linger long after the last page.