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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 14, 2004)
An independent newspaper http:/ /www.dailyemerald.com Wednesday, January 14, 2003 Since 1900 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon Volume 105, Issue 78 Professor uncovers the nature of memories Associate Professor Michael Anderson recently published a new study of what the brain does when a person forgets By Caron Alarab Senior News Reporter A University researcher is receiving interna 4 tional attention this week for a recent experi ment exploring why people forget. With a team of Stanford researchers, Associate Professor of psychology Michael Anderson found people can use certain brain regions to block mem ories just as they do to control physical actions. "It's no longer possible to say that human beings can't actively forget," said Anderson, one of the na tion's leading memory researchers. "Our research demystifies the idea of memory suppression." The findings, which were published in the Jan. 9 issue of Science magazine, support Sigmund Freud's controversial century-old theory about the existence of voluntary memory suppression. For the experiment, Anderson recruited Stan ford researcher John Gabrieli and the two co-wrote the Science article "Neural Systems Underlying the Suppression of Unwanted Memories." Ihe report details the steps and results of the ex periment, which some experts say could help psychi atrists aid people scanred by traumatic experiences. Although the process could be applied to both pleasant and unpleasant experiences, Anderson said he doesn't want to get ahead of himself. "We don't know yet if this can apply to emo tional memories, but we also don't know that it can't apply," he said. Word play Twenty-four people between 19 and 31 years old volunteered for the experiment, during which they learned unrelated noun pairs, such as "ordeal-roach" and "jaw-gum." Anderson and Gabrieli randomly divided the 36 word pairs into three sets of 12. The first two groups were asked to remember the first word of each pair and then asked to either remember or forget the second word, hence repressing memory. For the purposes of the third group, the re searchers had to determine a measurement for "simple forgetting over time." By not asking the group to either remember or to forget their pairs, the researchers left the subjects to rely on their natural memories without interference. "People forget things over time, but not on purpose, and we had to demonstrate that," Gabrieli said. "(Anderson) had shown he could create those conditions in prior experiments." In the second part of the experiment, the first two groups worked on their word pairs while being scanned in a functional magnetic resonance imaging machine, which produces computer images of brain tissue and function. From these images, researchers determined which parts of the brain are used for different tasks. After completing this phase, Anderson tested the students' memory for all of the word pairs and confirmed a previous finding — the more often people avoid thinking about the second word, the harder it became to remember it. "People's memory gets worse the more they try to avoid thinking about it," Anderson said. "Ifyou consistendy expose people to a reminder of a memory that they don't want to think about, and they try not to diink about it, they ac tually don't remember it as well as memories where they were not presented with any re minders at all." Turn to BRAIN, page 6 In the spotlight Lauren Wimer Photographer Sophomore Ebba Corleto auditions in front of a panel of 11 Monday night for a position on the student-produced program “Duck U." The show airs at 9 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday nights in the residence halls on channel 14 and on channel 23 at 10 p.m. Wednesday. Student producers of ‘Duck U’ are looking forward to filling another term with news, sports and a new dating game show By Jared Paben Senior News Reporter More than a dozen applicants wait ed in the lobby on the first floor of Allen Hall Monday night, chatting nervously about sports, the audition they were all waiting for or nothing at all. A sign-up sheet circulated around the room, which alternated between moments of quiet chatter and uncom fortable silence. A woman exited a doorway down the hall and entered the lobby. She picked up the sign-up sheet and called out the first name on the list. Nobody moved. She called it out again. A man stood up and followed her through a door, down a short hall and through another room, which looks out onto a stu dio. They entered it. The 11-mem ber "Duck U" panel, made up of show hosts, producers and re porters, was already seated, waiting for the first audition. With the campus television pro gram "Duck U" already in its second Turn to DUCK U, page 12 PFC questions validity of paying dues to USSA Tension arose when PFC members expressed concern about providing $7,435 to the national lobbying group for higher education students By Chuck Slothower News Reporter Nine student groups won funding, one was defunded and one was sent packing in a quest for more information at the ASUO Programs Finance Committee meeting Monday night. The successful groups gained budgets for 2004-2005 total ing $289,277, with the Office of Student Advocacy and the Oregon Marching Band accounting for the majority of that sum. The biggest controversy of the night, however, arose when com mittee members expressed concern over the ASUO Executive's re quest to fund the United States Student Association, a national political lobbying group that advocates on behalf of students on higher education issues. The USSA originally asked for $20,000 from the University but agreed to let funding increase gradually, resulting in an executive recommendation for $7,435 to pay dues and provide for student travel to conferences. ASUO President Maddy Melton and Vice President Eddy Morales lent their support to USSA, resulting in considerable tension. "What makes this not a partisan group," asked PFC Sen. Colin Andries. "Why should we hand this?" Melton responded that the USSA is a political organization but is non-partisan and does not lobby for particular candi dates. Still, concerns persisted about funding a largely off-cam pus organization. "When you go off-campus and you go to a federal level, we as a board really have to make sure the incidental fee is going to bene fit students at the University of Oregon," PFC Chairman Adrian Gilmore said. Melton pointed to USSA's effectiveness in fighting for greater spending for higher education, protecting the Pell Grant and reau thorizing the Higher Education Act as proof of its worth. "We raised the Pell Grant from $4,000 to $4,500," Melton said. "If that doesn't benefit students at the University of Oregon, 1 don't know what does." Regulations governing the incidental fee are clear that Turn to PFC, page 12 WEATHER LOW 43 HIGH 50 - > » > i I i I i I I I I ■I—L-L -l—1--1 i > ,< INSIDE Campus buzz.12 Crossword.11 Classifieds.11 Nation & World.3 Commentary..2 Sports.7 i. i. k.i tJ t 1 LJ. 3 NEXT ISSUE Part 2: Reporter’s notebook in Israel
