Chapter 01 of 5
The Man Who Couldn't Make Memories
One patient's surgery revealed where new memories are made.
- The Patient
Known only as H.M.
For over 50 years, one of the most studied people in brain science was identified only by his initials, H.M., to protect his privacy.
- The Problem
Seizures that wouldn't stop
Henry Molaison had severe epilepsy from childhood. By his twenties, frequent seizures made ordinary life almost impossible.
- 1953
A radical operation
Surgeon William Scoville removed tissue from deep inside both sides of Henry's brain, including most of a structure called the hippocampus.
17 more cards in this chapter
Could you answer this?
What could H.M. still learn after his surgery, without remembering learning it?
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🧩 How Memory Works (and Fails)
- 01The Man Who Couldn't Make MemoriesOne patient's surgery revealed where new memories are made.
- 02The Forgetting CurveThe man who measured his own forgetting — and what he found.
- 03Why Spacing WorksThe science of remembering for good — and why cramming fails.
- 04Memories That Never HappenedWhy vivid, confident memories can still be wrong.
- 05The Memory PalaceAn ancient trick that lets ordinary people remember extraordinary amounts.