6. Leopards 2024

 Memory. It lives on and on in our heads, and yet, for some situations, it is in our absence, too.  What would be my earliest memory?  I'd say I pretty much can't remember much about what happened until I was about two or three, sitting on the dinner table with my family and eating, playing with toys and running around with my brother.   But what's the most important memory?   Maybe it's the first time I remember going to India, going to my ancestral home when both my paternal grandparents were still alive. Maybe it's the time I rode on the back of my grandfather's moped as he drove me around my dad's hometown. Maybe it's the time my brother and I swung around on my grandmother's beautiful old swing layered with embroidered cushions. Maybe it's all the times I traveled to Disneyland with my family, basking in the childishness that was limitless and full of imagination. Maybe it's the time I spent living in Singapore for a year, gaining new ex...

A faint beeping and blinding white lights. The warmth of my father’s arms as he carried me, pacing back and forth across the nearly desolate hallway at the dead of night. Dressed in my prized pink and green button-up Tinkerbell pajama set. A nurse passing by, asking my father if there was anything that he or I needed. The door to the room my mother lay in slightly ajar. My mind was curious, eager to know what was happening inside but at the same time victim to the rumored horrors I had heard of childbirth. Countless emotions muddled and clashed, possibly too many to be contained in the mind of a three year old child. A flashbulb memory is a memory remembered in particularly vivid detail in response to an emotionally significant event—possibly a life-altering accident, a historical event, an illness, or the birth of a baby brother. Flashbulb memories often mark the moment when, simply put, everything changes. In every memory I now fondly look back on, my brother is always there. From t...

 My brain always wants me to fail...  I'm sitting here right now at 9:30PM on Wednesday night when this blog is due because I completely forgot about this blog until just now. I mean to be fair, I do this every Wednesday night because I genuinely forget about this assignment with how hectic the rest of the week is. Now I know that it isn't great that I do this super often, but who can blame me?  Let's recall some of the worst things I have forgotten to do over the course of my life. 1. I forgot to turn off the stove when I left the house to go to the movies with my family, and we came back to a house filled with smoke because whatever was in the pot on the stove had been literally cremated and changed into ash.  2. I forgot about POAS until about a week before it was due, and I had to really work hard to finish that paper on time (thanks to anyone who proofread it) 3. I forgot that I was supposed to attend a really big event in 9th grade and I completely overslept an...

Personally, memory is my most favorable topic because it is connected to my favorite subject, neuroscience.  For this blog specifically, I will be discussing a  psychotic disorder (alters thoughts and perceptions)  known as schizophrenia and its bizarre connection to memory.  Memory is a fundamental aspect of human cognition intertwined with our daily societal experiences.  According to an article by the  Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration , patients with schizophrenia depict symptoms involving "delusions (false beliefs), hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that don't exist), unusual physical behavior, and disorganized thinking and speech." Imagine taking a walk around 6 o'clock, then suddenly you "blank out" and realize that it is currently 2 am, and you have no idea what happened for the past 8 hours of your day. You experience "so much energy buzzing out of [your] mind, everything becomes visceral," and worst of all, ...

Photo from Google When do we start creating memories and what is the significance of our earliest memories ? This article I recently read provides consid erable insight on these two questions by discussing the results of a study conducted by researchers at Memorial University in Newfoundland. The study determined that earliest memories are, on average, from when we were 2.5 years old, contrary to scientists’ former belief that the formation of memories begins at the age of 3 to 4 years old. So, why does the ability to recall early memories vary from person to person and what does that say about them? There is no clear consensus on the implications of being able to vividly remember events from your early childhood, but it may say a lot about people and the environment they were brought up in. For example, an ability to recall early events is generally linked with greater intelligence and supportive parental influence. The overarching issue with the study, as admitted by the researchers...

He was blue. He was red. He was every color of the rainbow.  He meant the entire world to me.  I was 7 and he was 8 days old, and my entire life revolved around him.  His name was Edward, my beloved betta fish . Edward was probably my first true love; I mean you know what they say about first pets, right? It took me all seven years of my existence up until that point to convince my parents to let me get a pet. It started off big, of course. I wanted a dog, then I compromised by asking for a cat. Then we learned that I was allergic to cats, so I talked about a parrot instead. The parrot turned into a gerbil which turned into a hamster which turned into a fish. That is when Edward entered my life.  I still remember that day as clear as ever. I was jumping up and down with excitement when my parents finally agreed to get a pet fish. I remember the drive to the store and how I felt as I walked through the double doors. It felt like everything in the universe was aligning...

Forgetfulness and Growth There's a strange dichotomy in the human experience when it comes to memory. Sometimes, I find myself wishing I could remember every single detail of my life, from the mundane to the monumental. There's a nagging curiosity about what I might be missing, feeling like there are gaps in my understanding of who I am and where I’ve been. It's unsettling to think that there are moments I've lived, and experiences I've had, that I can't recall. At one point, I was too young to form memories. From when I was born to the age of around 4, I lived in Texas. While my family’s recollection of the years seems clear and detailed, mine is vague. When these years are brought up in family discussions, I feel out of the loop and almost as if I didn’t exist in my family during that time. To me, forgetfulness has always come with disappointment. Realizing that I’ve forgotten to do something, whether trivial or significant, during the day spurs shame and guil...

From paintings to photographs, we can examine the memories left behind by different people and civilizations. Throughout history, memories have been recorded using various types of methods. Ancient cave paintings from the prehistoric age depicted scenes of daily life, hunting expeditions, and beliefs. While this way of recording memories does not seem as advanced and fast compared to photographs, we can learn so much from these paintings. The fact that these cave paintings have been preserved to this day is mind-blowing! As civilizations evolved, the methods of recording memories changed. Different societies, such as the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, documented their histories and ways of life on clay tablets, papyrus scrolls, and stone inscriptions. Memories were preserved orally as well. Many of these civilizations had folktales and songs passed down from generation to generation, preserving historical events, cultural norms, and societal values.  In the fifteenth century, the p...

          When scrolling through old photos to find anything interesting enough to write about, I came across this adorable picture of Pico, one of my dogs. He is way too cute to not write about so I decided to dedicate this blog to a couple memories with my dogs.                     My first couple experiences with dogs were through the foster care system at a nonprofit called DPS Rescue or Doggie Protective Services. I ended up fostering 3-4 dogs however the service prioritized owners with previous experience with dogs so I never had the chance to take one home. Finally, at a local pet shelter, I found Apple, a Maltese mix, who was about 2 years old at the time. She was named after an Apple store on the highway which she was found next to. When she first came home, she was quite shy and always sat under a chair in my living room. She also hated her food so I remember feeding her each piece of kib...