When someone has a stroke, a head injury or a neurological condition, the effects can seem puzzling. Why can one person still talk fluently but not remember what happened yesterday, while another remembers everything but struggles to plan a simple meal? The answer lies in how the brain is organised. Here is a simple map. The four lobes Frontal lobes: at the front, behind the forehead. They handle planning, organising, decision-making, self-control, motivation and aspects of p

Before you can remember something, learn it or act on it, you first have to notice it. Attention is the gatekeeper for almost every other thinking skill, which is why problems with attention are often mistaken for problems with memory, intelligence or motivation.

Walking into a room and forgetting why. Losing your keys for the third time this week. Blanking on the name of someone you know well. These moments can be unsettling, and many people quietly wonder whether something is wrong. The good news is that most everyday forgetting is normal, and understanding how memory works makes it much less frightening.