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MomBoard: E-ink display for a parent with amnesia

(jan.miksovsky.com)
2102 points pabs3 | 4 comments | 14 Nov 24 12:20 UTC | HN request time: 0.777s | source
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frereubu ◴[14 Nov 24 13:42 UTC] No.42136060[source]▶
This is one of the few HN articles that have profoundly moved me. Such a beautiful and simple use of technology to make a clear and big improvement in someone's life.

As a side note on his mother remembering that the tablet exists, it sounds like she has amnesia quite like Henry Molaison, a famous case study in neuropathology. He had very specific brain damage that seemingly stopped him forming new memories in the same way as OP's mother, but studies showed that he could remember some things, just not consciously. So for example he would have warm feelings towards people who'd been caring for him despite not remembering them, and would also pick up card games more and more quickly as he played them repeatedly despite saying he didn't remember the game. OP's mother remembering the tablet sounds very similar, particularly when paired with the feeling of being remembered and loved by her children.

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ghosty141 ◴[14 Nov 24 14:31 UTC] No.42136434[source]▶
> but studies showed that he could remember some things, just not consciously.

This reminds me of muscle memory. I can play pieces on the piano even though I don't actively remember the sheet music of them. My hands just "know" what to do. Funnily enough the moment I start actively thinking about certain passages that ability worsens by a lot.

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medvezhenok ◴[14 Nov 24 16:03 UTC] No.42137539[source]▶
Further than just muscle memory, every cell in our bodies actually has "memories". That's why heart transplant patients can experience personality changes from the donor:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S03069...

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1. voidmain0001 ◴[14 Nov 24 16:22 UTC] No.42137755[source]▶
Excuse my ignorance in asking, but is this trustworthy? I'm a layperson regarding biology and I was always assumed that organs outside of the brain don't contribute to memory. At the end of the article is the statement "Data not available / No data was used for the research described in the article." Is it possible to see the data?

Reddit is telling me to not accept it at face value - https://old.reddit.com/r/research/comments/1bh2jmv/this_is_h...

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2. biomcgary ◴[14 Nov 24 17:03 UTC] No.42138252[source]▶
We know there are lots of biological mechanisms that retain state at the cellular level to put it in CS-ish terms. A fraction of these mechanisms could plausibly be transmitted outside the cell (e.g., miRNA).

These mechanisms may or may not encode memories as we typically understand them, i.e., the ability to remember an event or fact, but could very plausibly shift personality, preferences, etc.

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3. timschmidt ◴[14 Nov 24 17:25 UTC] No.42138600[source]▶
Not to mention that most neurotransmitters are produced / collected from the gut. Many seem to be produced / used as signalling molecules by gut microbiota.
4. adolph ◴[14 Nov 24 19:50 UTC] No.42140409[source]▶
>> can experience personality changes from the donor

> organs outside of the brain don't contribute to memory

Interesting question. To start, personality typically refers to the totality of a person's behaviors, not the memories they may be able to bring forth. Behavior, esp automatic, is informed by cognitive states informed by the body.

Affect is the general sense of feeling that you experience throughout each day. It is not emotion but a much simpler feeling with two features. The first is how pleasant or unpleasant you feel, which scientists call valence. . . . The second feature of affect is how calm or agitated you feel, which is called arousal. [0]

Simple pleasant and unpleasant feelings come from an ongoing process inside you called interoception. Interoception is your brain’s representation of all sensations from your internal organs and tissues, the hormones in your blood, and your immune system.

...[M]oment-to-moment interoception infuses us with affect, which we then use as evidence about the world. People like to say that seeing is believing, but affective realism demonstrates that believing is seeing.

0. Barrett, Lisa Feldman. How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain (p. 72). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.

1. ibid (p. 56).

2. ibid (pp. 76-77)