Why 'forgetting' is actually a new form of learning

It's a commonly-held belief that forgetting things is the first sign of a slippery slide into cognitive decline. However, researchers at Trinity College Dublin and the University of Toronto now argue that 'forgetting' is actually a form of learning that helps our brains access more important information. Forgotten memories, the researchers explain, are not really lost for all time - just made inaccessible. The findings also suggest that it might be possible to recover memories that had been thought to have been lost to disease - such as seen, for example, in patients with Alzheimer's. Study co-author Professor Tomás Ryan from Trinity College Dublin is with us to discuss the research.