[ExI] The worms that point the way to understanding tissueregeneration

[spike]

> ...On Behalf Of BillK
...
> (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at The University of Nottingham 
> have discovered the gene that enables an extraordinary worm 
> to regenerate its own body parts after amputation -- 
> including a whole head and brain.
> 
> <http://www.physorg.com/news191225651.html>
> ...
> This could be useful for the Monty Python Black Knight...

Come back and fight!  Only a flesh wound!  

> But if we regrow another head after accidentally mislaying 
> our present one, surely we cannot regrow memories as well?  
> Hard to tell with a worm, of course.  But it could be a 
> tricky situation for humans... BillK

The real trick would be to regrow memories in such a way that they are
better and more pleasant than the original memories.  Think of the market
for such a technology.  Surely there are buttloads of money to be made by
the first person who masters it.

Memory is a puzzle.  According to my very limited understanding (to which I
eagerly invite instruction from the local groksters) every time we access a
memory, we actually rewrite it in a sense.  So would not some memories be
subject to drift, from multiple accesses?

Reason I am interested: I am writing a book about career events that
happened a long time ago, but I fear that I am remembering old times as much
more pleasant than they actually were at the time.  My recollections are
about happy, funny, interesting times, whereas at the time I was probably
annoyed, frustrated and bored at least part of the time.  By forgetting the
bad and fondly recalling the good stuff, my own memories paint the past in a
far more favorable light than they deserve perhaps.

I don't know how to compensate for that, or even if I would want to.

spike