What is MEMO?

MEMO is a Multifaceted Examination of Memory and its Origins. In essence, MEMO is one of the most detailed investigations of memory ever undertaken.

As we all know, some of us have really excellent memory while some of us struggle with remembering - but why? What are the reasons for these individual differences? Very little is known about this, so one of MEMO's main goals is to understand why and how this variance in memory ability occurs. We will then combine the findings from MEMO with those from our other work which involves studying patients who experience loss of memory following brain injury or disease. In this way we hope to build a more complete understanding of how memories are formed, represented and recollected by the human brain, with a view to doing more to help memory-impaired patients in the future.

MEMO is being conducted by researchers at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at University College London. The Centre is a world leader in using brain imaging to investigate how the brain supports complex cognitive functions such as memory. MEMO is funded by a research grant from a medical charity called the Wellcome Trust.

MEMO has now finished the recruitment phase and we would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the volunteers who took part. Data analysis is currently underway. Links to publications can be found here.