Our understanding of memory is all wrong

An MRI and a CT scan of a patient who suffered strokes. | Kendrick Brinson/Washington Post via Getty Images Memory defines us in so many ways, but it’s not exactly what we think it is. We tend to imagine memory almost like a filing cabinet — a faithful record of the past we can pull from when needed. But according to new research, memory is less about storing facts and more about shaping the story of our lives. It helps us make sense of the present and construct meaning out of chaos. Dr. Charan Ranganath is a neuroscientist at University of California Davis, and the author of Why We