THINGS WE FORGET

hy remember when it is so important to forget? That sounds promising in a day and age when techniques to enhance your memory are as popular as a cup of tea. It is important not to forget your mother’s birthday, where you live or how to dress, but it is very desirable to forget all the ite ms you float past in a supermarket, the names you scan through in a phone directory and the sign posts you sweep past on your way home. We like to think t hat we are the masters of what we choose to remember and what we choose to forget. And no doubt , o a certain degree we are. But some initial filtering is done on the molecular level and for our own benefit. The understanding of the biochemistry involved in the process of learning, memory...and forgetfulness is still very much in its infancy, but we do know of one protein, protein phosphatase 1, which certainly seems to be at the heart of this primordial sift.