Your memory isn't accurate—and that's healthy | Flavio Donato | TEDxBasel

For many of us, memories are permanent things that are created once to remain with us for the rest of our lives, but how rigid, how unchangeable are they in reality? As it turns out, not very much. Memories possess the plasticity to change with time in order to better align with the experiences we make, and by doing so, they migh help us imagine the future.

Flavio is an assistant professor in Neurobiology at the University of Basel since 2019. Italian of origin, he received his B.S. and M.S. in Biotechnology from the University of Rome, and PhD from the FMI in Basel for his studies on microcircuit remodeling processes underlying learning in the adult. While working in Norway, in 2017 Flavio was awarded the Eppendorf & Science prize for neurobiology for discovering network mechanisms driving the development of brain's circuits for the representation of space.

Since Flavio moved back to Basel to start his own independent lab, he has been investigating how memories are encoded and stored in the brain of infant and adult mammals. When not in the lab, he can be found enjoying the vibrant musical and artistic Basler scene, or feeding his schoggi weggli addiction in one of the city bakeries, one of the main reasons he moved back to Switzerland.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx