Scientists Decode the Secret of Nostalgia

Why do old people think life was great in their younger days? Science finds out the answer: our brain remembers the good stuff and forgets the bad ones!

Report author Professor Roberto Cabeza, from Duke University, North Carolina, United States, said: "Older people have learned to be less affected by negative information in order to maintain their well being and emotional state.

"They may have sacrificed more accurate memory for a negative stimulus, so that they won't be so affected by it. Perhaps at different stages of life, there are different brain strategies.

"Younger adults might need to keep an accurate memory for both positive and negative information in the world.

"Older people dwell in a world with a lot of negatives, so perhaps they have learned to reduce the impact of negative information and remember in a different way."

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I totally believe this...over time when I think back on past girlfriends or whatever, I can already remember them fondly and it takes some digging to remember the reasons we split...and generally there are very very good reasons.
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I can agree with that. I didn't have that great of a childhood, which is probibly why I can hardly remember any of it, just a handful of memories. As for people suffering from Memory loss, one of the wonderous defence mechanisms of the brain!
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Sounds like a good deal to me.

I had a very normal childhood save for a few rough patches that were very rough. However, the older I get, the more idealized childhood becomes for me.
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Closely linked is the fact that the brain cannot precisely remember what excruciating pain feels like. That info just gets dumped, in an effort to protect itself from lingering trauma.
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I feel like a senior citizen already...

I don't really remember a lot in the years when was in heavy depression. But now, the things I do seem to remember are generally the good and fun times. Erasing the bad. Haha.
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Wow, i fit wasn't for those amazing scientists decoding stuff that's obvious to a ten year old-yup, without science there's no way I would have known something as deep and mysterious as "Brain remember good stuff." Real journal of irreproducible results kinda material, there.
Now can we see some real science?
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