X-Message-Number: 16459 Date: Thu, 07 Jun 2001 10:00:23 -0700 From: Max More <> Subject: Alzheimer's and memory loss >That is clearly NOT the assumption. It is certain, that >Alzheimer's and brain tumours destroy memory. While we all >believe, that it will eventually become possible to repair any >part of the body (this assertion is fudamental to cryonics), >destroyed memory will be lost. You say it is "certain" that Alzheimer's destroys memory. Is that really true? I'd appreciate hearing from someone who really knows the current science in this area. I'm suspicious of the above claim because (a) people with Alzheimer's seem to sometimes recall things and sometimes not; (b) memory is not a single process. It may be that the ability to *retrieve* memories is damaged by Alzheimer's, but perhaps the memories are still there and retrieval abilities could be repaired. This point goes along with the first point -- even normal people sometimes have difficulty accessing a memory even though they know it's there, and it often pops into mind later on. Max _______________________________________________________ Max More, Ph.D. Futurist, Speaker, Consultant. or http://www.maxmore.com ________________________________________________________________ President, Extropy Institute. http://www.extropy.org Chair, 06.15.01, Extro-5: Shaping Things to Come, http://www.extropy.org/ex5/index.htm ________________________________________________________________ Senior Content Architect, ManyWorlds Inc.: http://www.manyworlds.com "The Premier Business Strategy Source" _______________________________________________________ Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=16459